Transforming the Health of Our Communities
Our Mercy health system was founded by the Sisters of Mercy in 1986. But our heritage goes back more than 195 years. It began with an Irish woman named Catherine McAuley, who was determined to help women and children in Dublin experiencing poverty. Though Catherine had a modest upbringing, she received an unexpected inheritance that allowed her to fulfill that dream. In 1827, she opened the first House of Mercy in Dublin, intending to teach skills to women and educate children. Many volunteers came to help.
A few years later, Catherine founded the Sisters of Mercy, one of the first religious orders whose Sisters were free to walk among the poor and visit them in their homes. In 1843, the Sisters of Mercy came to the United States. In 1856, they traveled to St. Louis. In the years to come, they would establish hospitals throughout the Midwest. Many of these would join together in 1986 as Mercy.
Learn more about Mercy's Heritage and History. >
Our Community Commitment
Mercy Resources
Since our founding almost 200 years ago, Mercy has been a ministry committed to service. Our current servant leaders reflect this commitment, each answering the same call to offer health care that’s innovative, compassionate and rooted in faith. They now lead Mercy into the future of health care, with a focus on advanced technology that enables us to offer care that’s more personal, more efficient and more effective for those we serve.
Our primary focus is listening to the people of our communities and helping them. Every few years, we conduct community needs assessments to understand how to increase access to health care services. Then we develop plans to address the most urgent needs of our underserved communities.
Mercy also provides more than $550 million in community benefits* annually. This includes care for patients who cannot pay & unreimbursed Medicaid costs. Of Mercy’s 2.6 million active patients, we estimate that 10% have unmet social needs & 9% have poorer health outcomes. More than 47,000 patients without insurance are currently using Mercy emergency departments as their primary method of health care.
*Community benefit is the actual cost of providing free or discounted care to people who cannot afford and are not eligible for public programs.
Impacting Health in Our Communities
As part of our strategic plan, Mercy is becoming a central and essential component of people’s health in each community we serve. We care about the whole person — what each person needs to live an entire, healthy life — and we’re working to address the social determinants that create barriers to good health outcomes. We believe what the data tells us: when we help patients meet their social needs, they become healthier and have a higher quality of life.
Learn more about the communities we serve.
Mercy Clinics
In our clinics, we can treat chronic illnesses, diagnose and treat diseases in the early stages, and help prevent suffering and poor long-term outcomes. Across four states, a team of more than 2,400 Mercy primary and specialty care physicians, more than 2,200 advanced practitioners, and supporting staff deliver health care services through more than 300 offices.
Mercy Hospitals
Shorter hospital stays, fewer complications and better patient results are just a few metrics used to rank Mercy as one of the nation's top five large health systems in the 2019 IBM Watson Health 15 Top Health Systems study.
Mercy Ministries
Mercy serves various special needs, particularly for low-income patients, in Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas. Mercy ministries include the following:
- Mercy Family Center is a behavioral health clinic for adolescents and their families, serving New Orleans, Louisiana.
- Mississippi Health Advocacy Program in Jackson, Mississippi, focuses on improving health policies, practices and funding, especially for people experiencing poverty.
- Mercy Ministries of Laredo provides primary health care services, a domestic violence shelter and an education center in Laredo, Texas.
- Cooper-Anthony Mercy Child Advocacy Center provides essential medical and counseling services to Arkansas’ youngest abuse victims from birth to 18 years of age.
Mercy by the Numbers (Fiscal Year 2024)
Catholic Health Care System in the U.S.
Operating Revenue
Net Assets
Traditional Charity Care
Unreimbursed Medicaid
Other Community Benefits
