Springfield Business Journal: KC-based health system to oversee Mercy pediatric care
By Geoff Pickle
Kansas City-based Children’s Mercy will assume management of Mercy Springfield Communities’ pediatric care after formalizing a partnership announced last year.
John Myers, president of Mercy Springfield Communities, said the pediatric management agreement with Children’s Mercy becomes effective Nov. 1 and covers the health system’s existing pediatric hospital within Mercy Hospital Springfield and its specialty care clinics.
The two organizations are each big players in their own right: Children’s Mercy operates a 367-bed, free-standing children’s hospital in Kansas City and more than a dozen health care facilities in Missouri and Kansas, according to its website. It has over 800 pediatric specialists among its nearly 8,900 employees. Mercy Springfield Communities had 9,217 local employees as of July 2024, according to SBJ’s list of the area’s largest employers, and officials say more than 160 pediatric employees currently work locally for the health system.
A partnership between the two health systems was first announced in March 2024, however this newly signed joint operating agreement provides some of the first details on how the health systems will work together on care.
Myers spoke to Springfield Business Journal along with Amy Fallon, president of regional operations for Children’s Mercy, ahead of an Aug. 14 news conference announcing the signing of the joint operating agreement.
Read the full article via the Springfield Business Journal