The 476-bed Mercy Medical Center of Canton, Ohio, will become part of the Cleveland Clinic health system under an agreement that was expected to close by Feb. 1.
Mercy Medical Center of Canton, Ohio.
Under the arrangement, which is called a member substitution, the medical center's current parent, Sisters of Charity Health System of Cleveland, will transfer its membership interest in Mercy Medical Center to the Cleveland Clinic Foundation, which is connected with the nonprofit multispecialty academic medical center.
The Sisters of Charity of St. Augustine will continue to sponsor Mercy Medical Center through CSA Health System Ministries, which is the Sisters of Charity Health System's public juridic person. Mercy Medical will maintain its Catholic identity and will continue to adhere to the Ethical and Religious Directives for Catholic Health Care Services.
The Sisters of Charity Health System and Cleveland Clinic had announced the deal in September 2019. The organizations currently are not disclosing financial details of their definitive agreement. Sisters of Charity Health System said proceeds from the transaction will be used to further the mission and ministries of the Sisters of Charity of St. Augustine.
The Vatican and the Catholic Diocese of Youngstown, Ohio, have approved the agreement, and the waiting periods required by antitrust regulations were expected to allow for a closing by Feb. 1.
Mercy Medical Center will be the second Catholic hospital to become part of Cleveland Clinic. The first was Marymount Hospital in Garfield Heights, Ohio.
Sr. Karam
Mercy Medical has 2,700 employees. The transfer to Cleveland Clinic also will include Mercy Medical's 10 outpatient health centers. Cleveland Clinic has a main campus near downtown Cleveland as well as 18 hospitals and more than 220 outpatient facilities in Ohio, Florida, Nevada and in Canada, the United Arab Emirates and England. Canton is about 60 miles southeast of Cleveland. One of Cleveland Clinic's hospitals — Union Hospital of Dover, Ohio — is within 25 miles of Mercy Medical.
Sr. Judith Ann Karam, CSA, is congregational leader of the Sisters of Charity of St. Augustine. She said that the Sisters of Charity Health System had been considering many types of partners and partnerships as a way to expand and grow Mercy Medical's services. "The Cleveland Clinic emerged as the top choice" and the systems signed a letter of intent in September 2019. Sr. Karam said that capital investment from Cleveland Clinic will allow Mercy Medical to further its reach "and continue to provide the high-quality, low-cost health care it is known for in the communities it serves."
Strauss
Thomas J. Strauss, president and chief executive of Sisters of Charity Health System, said the Cleveland Clinic was attracted to Mercy in part because of Mercy's strong clinical programs and staff.
With the transfer of Mercy, Sisters of Charity Health System will continue to solely own one hospital, St. Vincent Charity Medical Center of Cleveland, as well as two skilled nursing and assisted living campuses, three grantmaking foundations and six health and human services organizations.