Medicine has entered the brave new world of precision medicine, and many of Kansas City’s healthcare institutions are at the forefront.

What is precision medicine? A personalized approach to care where treatments are specifically tailored to the patient using advanced technology. Here in KC, researchers are using advances in genomics, molecular biology, artificial intelligence and advanced imaging to identify the right treatment for the right patient at the right time—particularly in diseases such as cancer, where therapies can precisely target a tumor’s genetic drivers. 

“It’s such a great time to be in medicine and particularly in cancer medicine because there’s so much going on,” says Dr. Jeffrey Holzbeierlein. He leads a research team at KU Medical Center studying the causes and novel chemotherapeutic drug treatments for prostate and bladder cancer. Holzbeierlein’s lab has screened more than 1,000 drug compounds, all created at KU, with several moving into clinical trials. “I think as a physician who has been here for 24 years, seeing things that didn’t move along for 10 or 15 years, that’s finally changed,” he says. “Within the last few years, the number of new therapies that have come out are changing the face of cancer. It is really quite remarkable.”

These innovations are not just happening in a silo at one area healthcare center; they are coming together via a healthcare innovation corridor where data analytics and clinical trial results are shared among doctors and researchers at KU Medical Center, Children’s Mercy Kansas City, UMKC and Stowers Institute for Medical Research. 

In a public-private collaboration announced in February, the University of Kansas Health System, KU Medical Center and Children’s Mercy, working with Bold Advanced Medical Future Health based in Grand Rapids, Michigan, will establish one of the country’s first fully integrated theranostics platforms for adults and kids, bringing together radiopharmaceutical production, molecular imaging, radiopharmaceutical therapy and various clinical trials. 

Scott Younger is the director of disease gene engineering within the Genomic Medicine Center at Children’s Mercy Hospital. He is doing a lot of work with organoids models, which are tiny 3D tissue cultures ranging in size from the width of a hair to five millimeters. They are made from stem cells, which can be manipulated to resemble miniature lab-grown human body organs. Drug therapies can be tested in a petri dish instead of the organ inside a living human patient.

Researchers have been able to produce organoids that resemble the brain, kidney, lung, intestine, stomach, liver and more. Each organoid is used to see how drugs interact with a particular organ. “They’re real complex little balls of cells that you can grow in a dish,” Younger says. “If we grow neuronal organoids or brain organoids in a dish, we see that those manifest phenotypes (the physical traits of an organism) that are representative of diseases. We are spending a lot of our focus now on epilepsy.”

The work being done by Steven Leeder, senior vice president and chief scientific officer at Children’s Mercy Kansas City, complements Younger’s work to identify the best treatments. 

“You start off with the medication that perhaps you’re most familiar with,” Leeder says. “Invariably, not everybody responds to the same medication in the same way, even getting the same dose. So using organoids as Scott described it is one of the ways where we can start to get at which of a series of choices might be the best for a particular patient. The essential question comes down to, ‘Why is it that you can take a group of teens with depression, let’s say, and give them Prozac according to the FDA guidelines, and some kids will respond, and some kids may not?’ So we want to get to what underlies the variability in the response.”

Read the full article via Kansas City Magazine

The Children's Mercy Research Institute

PRESS RELEASE: The University of Kansas Health System, University of Kansas Medical Center, Children’s Mercy and BAMF Health To Develop Fully Integrated Destination Theranostic Research and Treatment Center

Nature publishes transformative Children's Mercy Research Institute study

The portrait series is designed to bring patient stories into the spotlight, offering support and shifting how society perceives facial differences.

The collection was created by a mother and artist whose own daughter was born with a cleft lip. Now touring the U.S. for the first time, the artist hopes to challenge conventional beauty standards and promote inclusivity.

Hannah Bergman emphasized that the goal of the exhibit is to ease the journey for patients and families.

“The patient wasn’t born broken. They just happened to be a beautiful person who’s born with a cleft, and our whole team exists to try to make that process a little easier for them,” Bergman said.

Artist Katie Manning hopes that the United States tour will inspire viewers to embrace diversity and connect through shared humanity.

See the full story via KCTV 5

Children's Mercy Cleft Lip and Palate Program

The pair of cleats Carter Jensen is wearing this weekend are bright and colorful, just the way he likes them. The drawings are designed to bring a smile to your face, especially once you know the artists behind each one.

For Players’ Weekend this year – a multiday event that features player personalities, charitable causes and custom gear – Jensen teamed up with Children’s Mercy in Kansas City to get some help designing his cleats. Young patients drew their names and fun sketches in bright colors, and Jensen got the cleats ready to wear for this weekend’s series against the Tigers at Kauffman Stadium. He loves all the names on there, as well as the big “Go Carter” statement on the toe of one of the shoes. The basketball hoop drawn on the tongue of one of the shoes – giving the Air Jordan logo something to dunk in, of course – was a big hit, too.

Read the full article via MLB

By Suzanne King

Two of the Kansas City area’s largest public health departments are seeing a significant drop in demand for vaccinations.

The Kansas City Health Department said vaccine traffic has fallen as much as 30% from a year ago, while the Johnson County Department of Health and Environment reports a 20% decline.

The numbers are consistent with recent trends in vaccination rates, which have been especially evident among children.

Nearly 6% of Missouri kindergartners received a religious exemption for the 2025-26 school year, allowing them to avoid childhood vaccinations required to attend. And in Kansas, the religious exemption rate was 3.3% in the 2024-25 school year, the most recent data available. 

Currently, the United States is experiencing the largest measles outbreak it has seen in decades. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, so far this year 2,550 measles cases have been reported by 47 jurisdictions, and there have been 38 new outbreaks.

That follows 2025, when 2,289 cases were confirmed, along with 48 outbreaks, including one in southwest Kansas, which came dangerously close to the Kansas City area. 

The highly contagious virus will quickly infect anyone who is not vaccinated, and can spread like wildfire when vaccination rates in a community are low. Herd immunity for the virus — when it is unlikely to spread — requires a vaccination rate of 95%, a target that local jurisdictions and schools are increasingly missing.

Measles, which had been virtually eliminated in the United States until immunization rates began to slide in recent years, is not only highly infectious, it’s also dangerous. One child out of 1,000 who gets it will die, said Dr. Maria Deza Leon, an infectious diseases doctor at Children’s Mercy.

“There’s a misconception that measles is only a rash,” she said. “However, measles can have a lot of complications.” 

In addition to death, the virus can lead to pneumonia and encephalitis, she said. It can essentially erase a person’s immune memory, leaving them vulnerable to illnesses their body had known how to fight off. And, in rare cases, the virus can remain dormant in the body and show up as a fatal disease years after an infection.

Read the full article via The Beacon

Childhood vaccine schedule explained: Changes, safety and guidance

The Kansas City Royals and Children’s Mercy hosted a Topps reverse signing event Monday at Kauffman Stadium, giving pediatric patients the chance to have their own baseball cards signed by Royals players.

The event began at 1:45 p.m. Children’s Mercy patients presented custom Topps baseball cards, designed with their faces and stats, to Royals players, who signed them.

Salvador Perez signed a card for Children’s Mercy patient Keira Gallup.

“Can I give you a hug?” Perez said.

See the full story via KCTV 5

By Frida Humphreville

Children's Mercy has tapped artificial intelligence to be more predictive and less reactive in managing its patient load in the three years since opening its Patient Progression Hub.

The AI-based model can reach 98% accuracy when predicting patient numbers during a two-week period, said Sherry McCool, senior director of patient progression. The hub predicts and coordinates emergencies and patient-related activities from the hospital's operations center.

Jennifer Watts, associate chief medical officer for acute care and inpatient services, likened running a hospital to chess.

“It is putting all the pieces in the right place at the right time, and you've got to be strategic about it to make sure that everybody can move into the right place when they need to move,” Watts said.

Read the full article via the Kansas City Business Journal

PRESS RELEASE: Children’s Mercy Kansas City, GE HealthCare Launch Nation’s First Pediatric Hospital Operations Center to Improve Patient Care

By Frida Humphreville

Children’s Mercy’s new pediatric cancer division has big plans for little ones.

Yong Li, director of the new Molecular Oncology and Cellular Therapeutics division, and Steven Leeder, senior vice president and chief scientific officer, explained what the division will add to emerging research on cancer treatment for kids.

How is this division different from other therapeutic programs at Children’s Mercy?

Li: First, it's primarily for pediatric cancer. That's our endpoint, and current pediatric survival (rates), they are pretty decent. About 80% to 85% of the pediatric cancer patients get more than five years of survival, and the vast majority are considered cured. 

Even for that, 85% is a problem because most of the treatments are highly toxic. So the field is transitioning, not just so you get a patient to survive more than five years, but in a less toxic way, allowing for a normal life span. That's very unique for our center.

Therapeutics is also treating other types of disease, particularly in autoimmune disease, and there is lots of talk about how it can be extended to transplant patients. Many patients with transplant, they have some existing antibody that prevented them from acquiring the new organ, and cell therapy is the key technology moving forward. 

Read the full article via the Kansas City Business Journal

PRESS RELEASE: Children’s Mercy Names Yong Li, Ph.D. To Lead New Program Expanding Hope and Treatment Options for Children Facing Cancer and Other Serious Diseases

Members of the media yesterday were invited to a sneak peek of the O’Reilly Pediatric Center, a joint project between Mercy Springfield Communities and Kansas City-based Children’s Mercy.

The pediatric outpatient center is located on Mercy's south campus that also includes its orthopedic hospital and a new emergency room. The price of the pediatric facility was previously projected at $30 million. 

The two-story, 40,000-square-foot pediatric facility is slated for completion in December, said Debbie Schwartzkopf, the joint venture's chief administrative officer. The facility was first announced in November 2025, and the O'Reilly family came on as lead donors less than a month later. 

Read the full article via the Springfield Business Journal

Children's Mercy at Mercy Springfield Communities

While the world waits for Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce to drop their wedding photos, the singer is getting an extra-special present from patients at Children’s Mercy Hospital.

On Monday, July 20, the Kansas City-based children’s hospital shared a series of photos on their Instagram after several patients helped design a wedding gown as a one-of-a-kind gift for Swift.

The dress, which was donated by Savvy Bridal, featured different drawings and panels of coloring. Some had also included a few of Swift’s songs, including “Who’s Afraid of Little Old Me!” from her 2024 album The Tortured Poets Department.

See the full story via People

Kansas City's healthcare industry has seen some real estate changes so far in 2026, including a $1 billion announcement from Children's Mercy.

Here’s a list of Kansas City hospitals or clinics with construction or transaction news announced so far this year.

Children’s Mercy Adele Hall campus modernization

Location: 2401 Gillham Road, Kansas City

Description: Children's Mercy plans a $1 billion expansion, the single largest capital investment in the hospital’s history. Children's Mercy looks to fund the project using $1.02 billion in operating cash flow and cash, $500 million in debt and $200 million in philanthropy. In June, Children’s Mercy secured $409.1 million in bonds.

The project will add two high-rises. The first would add fetal health clinic space; labor, delivery, recovery and postpartum units; operating rooms; and sterile processing. The second would create a new campus entrance and house the neonatal, cardiac and pediatric ICUs; medical surgery beds; surgery, imaging and emergency department facilities; and parking.

The project is expected to be completed in 2031. HDR is the architect.

Read the full article via The Kansas City Business Journal

PRESS RELEASE: Children’s Mercy Announces New Acute Care Tower at Adele Hall Campus to Meet Urgent Growing Pediatric Needs

By Chandler Watkins

This month, Birthday Brightness was launched at Children’s Mercy. It’s a program two years in the making, created by a former patient after she spent her birthday in the hospital.

Sami Tolliver, now 19 years old, says the Children’s Mercy staff and Child Life Specialist program made sure it was a special one, surprising her the day she turned 17.

“My whole room was decorated when I woke up. They had a present for me and everything,” said Tolliver back in 2024. “I just felt so special and so loved on my birthday.”

See the full story via KCTV 5

Become a Children's Mercy Junior Champion

Children's Mercy's first standalone clinic in Wichita is now open in a move that expands regional pediatric specialty healthcare.

The 18,000 square-foot outpatient clinic, located on Greenwich Road near 29th Street, builds on the Kansas City-based pediatric health system's 14-year presence in Wichita. Children's Mercy will vacate its clinic at the Wesley Medical Arts building, where it has had a presence since 2012, and move its pediatric specialist practice to the new clinic.

President of regional operations Amy Fallon said the multi-specialty clinic, which staffs 16 medical providers across 11 specialties, aims to expand access to pediatric care in Wichita and the larger region, and reduce the need for travel to Kansas City for specialized care at Children's Mercy's flagship pediatric hospital.

Read the full article via the Wichita Business Journal

PRESS RELEASE: Children’s Mercy Celebrates Opening of New Wichita Multispecialty Outpatient Clinic

​As the 2026 FIFA World Cup brings millions of fans to cities across North America, hospitals have had to prepare for more than an influx of visitors. Large events place added demands on emergency departments and require health systems to prepare for potential mass-casualty incidents, infectious disease threats and other public health challenges.​

Dr. Jennifer Watts, vice president and associate chief medical officer of acute care and inpatient services at Children's Mercy in Kansas City, and Bree Bush, general manager for Command Center and CareIntellect at GE HealthCare, sat down with MobiHealthNews to discuss how Children's Mercy used technology to prepare for one of the world's biggest sporting events.

MobiHealthNews: What is it about large events like the World Cup that causes an increase in emergency room visits?

Dr. Jennifer Watts: Anytime you have any of the large event gatherings like this, you have an influx of people into the city.

Just because you travel to certain places doesn't mean you stop getting sick, and people still get hurt, and people still have appendicitis, and people still have all the same things that they normally have on a day-to-day basis.

So, when we increase the population volume, our healthcare needs to increase in order to match that for acute injuries; things that happen every day, they're just also now happening more frequently with more people.

You also have the risk of other things happening too that come as a result of having large gatherings. You always think about bringing in people from other countries too; that raises your risk for infectious disease, increases your risk of communicable disease and other things that come that people in the U.S. may not be used to seeing.

And then also anytime we have celebrations, anytime we have large event gatherings, you also have a risk of civil unrest, and when that occurs, you have potential for significant issues in the population at that gathering, which also stresses the healthcare environments.

Read the full article via MobiHealth News

Read part 2 of the Q&A

Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce haven’t just been planning a wedding. They quietly set off a chain reaction of generosity that left staff at some American nonprofits stunned, emotional, and, in at least one case, literally speechless.

On July 2, a rep for Swift told PEOPLE that the couple had made an astounding $26 million in donations to various charitable organizations.

The superstar and football player, both 36, are known for supporting charitable causes long before this latest wave of donations. Swift has built a long track record of giving across education, disaster relief, food insecurity, and music programs, often contributing quietly or stepping in quickly during moments of urgent need. Kelce has also focused his philanthropy on youth development and community support through his foundation work, backing programs aimed at empowering underserved kids and strengthening local communities.

Across food banks, children’s hospitals, education nonprofits and animal welfare organizations, leaders say they learned about the couple’s sweeping charitable donations the same way: suddenly, directly and often through a phone call or message that didn’t quite feel real at first.

At Children's Mercy the reaction was immediate and emotional after learning the rumor was true. On Instagram, the hospital wrote, “The rumor about @taylorswift and @killatrav ? It’s true. And we heard it with our own happy hearts. 💛✨❤️ Their incredible gift will help bring more comfort, joy and ‘just be a kid’ moments to Children’s Mercy, supporting the programs, services and care that make hospital days brighter for kids and families. More comfort. More magic. More reminders that our kids are seen, supported and surrounded by love.”

They added, “Friendship bracelets, end-zone dances and a whole lot of gratitude —Taylor and Travis, we’re in our grateful era. ✨ Thank you.”

See the full story via People 

Ways to give to Children's Mercy

In the United States, the state of pediatric health services can be fraught as the healthcare research firm Advisory Board indicates a difficult financial year for pediatric hospitals. Prospects are looking up in 417-land, though, especially as Springfield takes on not one but two new pediatric facilities. The first, St. Louis Children’s at CoxHealth, is a pediatric hospital that opened in March at Cox Medical Center South. The second, the Children’s Mercy with Mercy O’Reilly Pediatric Center, is a brand-new facility that opens in December at Mercy Springfield’s south campus. Both serve different purposes but work together to localize pediatric care.

This is pressing because currently, one in three children in the area has to seek medical care outside of the community. Dr. John Burson, a Mercy Springfield pediatrician and medical director of Children’s Mercy with Mercy, says that having to drive to bigger cities is taxing not only children but their families. “People forget, but that’s very disruptive to the parent, to the family unit, if the patient has to go and travel,” Burson says. “A lot of times that means a parent has to take a day off work, and sometimes financially that’s hard because they need the paycheck; they need to be able to work.” With the new facilities, children will be better cared for in the Springfield area, whether it’s for medical emergencies or routine visits.

Children's Mercy with Mercy O'Reilly Pediatric Center

Children’s Mercy with Mercy O’Reilly Pediatric Center is the joint venture between Children’s Mercy in Kansas City and Mercy Springfield Communities. The $30 million new facility is 40,000 square feet, with wings for both primary and specialty pediatric care. Caregivers at the facility will be stationed in Springfield, which Dr. John Burson says is especially important in order for specialist pediatricians to feel supported. When the facility opens in December, initial services open for patients include pediatric specialties, pediatric primary care, lab and radiology. More than 100,000 children throughout the community are expected to be impacted through its services. The space uses the expertise of Children’s Mercy to craft a center especially for children. “We’re really creating a space that’s comfortable, calming and colorful combined together so that they’re not afraid of the care that they’re receiving,” says Debbie Schwartzkopf, chief administrative officer for Children’s Mercy with Mercy.

Read the full article via 417 Magazine

PRESS RELEASE: Children's Mercy and Mercy Springfield Communities Celebrate Construction Milestone

By Jordan Fremstad

A young boy is recovering at Children’s Mercy after his parents said he fell into a burn pit while visiting a neighbor’s home.

Matt and Andrea Holmes said their son, Christian, fell backward into the burn pit on Saturday night. Andrea Holmes said she did not initially realize how serious the injuries were.

The Holmes family said neighbors who happened to be first responders helped get Christian to Children’s Mercy, saving what they described as valuable time.

Andrea Holmes said the family has spent about five days talking with doctors and waiting for a treatment plan. She said doctors believe Christian may need skin grafts to repair the damage from the burns.

See the full story via KCTV 5

Kansas hospitals are creating mobile maternal health clinics and using AI to prevent chronic illness in kids with new federal grant money aimed at increasing healthcare access to rural residents.

The Rural Health Transformation Program is a five-year federal initiative signed into law by President Donald Trump. Part of its purpose is to soften the blow of Medicaid cuts proposed by the administration and approved by Congress. Kansas received $221 million dollars for its first year.

Although some rural hospitals say the money won’t completely offset what they lose from Trump’s Medicaid cuts, they’re grateful for it. They say rural hospitals need system changes and more funding at state and federal levels to be sustainable.

Children’s Mercy 

Kansas City-based Children’s Mercy, which also has locations in Kansas, won $6 million, more than any other grantee this round. The hospital wants to leverage AI to improve care for pediatric chronic illnesses, including type 1 diabetes and asthma. The plan is to partner with the Community Health Center of Southeast Kansas, the University of Kansas Health System’s Great Bend campus and Logan County Health Services.

Dr. J.B. Le Pichon with Children’s Mercy said they’ll use the money to implement AI-driven technology in rural Kansas that screens for chronic diseases in children. The technology can alert providers if kids are at higher risk of developing a chronic illness so they can focus on prevention.

“We want to really make sure we bring that innovative care to all of the children of Kansas, focusing on equity,” Le Pichon said.

Read the full article via KCUR

Children's Mercy locations

By Tod Palmer

For 10-year-old Matteo Rodriguez, soccer was a lifeline during cancer treatment. Now, it's just a game he loves to play.

"It was a lot of mixed feelings, because I was sad that I was in the hospital, but I was happy that I was watching [Lionel] Messi play,” Matteo said. “I just loved soccer at that time.”

Four years ago, Matteo, who lives in Olathe with his family, was diagnosed with Stage 3 non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. His mother, Jennifer Diaz, said doctors repeatedly missed the signs.

"He had been fighting a croupy cough for several months, and every time we would take him into the doctor, they would misdiagnose him," Diaz said.

Doctors at Children's Mercy Hospital eventually discovered a tumor that covered more than half of his chest, a devastating diagnosis.

See the full story via KSHB 41

Kansas City hospitals said they are prepared for the influx of international patients expected this summer during the World Cup. But they worry that the patients may not be ready for America’s labyrinthine healthcare system.

In addition to bulking up translation services and scheduling more doctors and nurses for shifts during the monthlong tournament, hospitals said they’re focused on communication to help international visitors understand that getting care here isn’t as simple as it may be back home.

“All of our health systems have been working together to share information about how to best work with and take care of patients coming from single-payer countries,” said Dr. Bryan Beaver, an emergency medicine physician at the University of Kansas Health System who is leading the city’s medical coordination for the event.

In countries where healthcare is provided through the government, it is free to patients and, unlike the United States, there is no menu of care options with varying price tags. That’s why, hospital leaders said, visitors need information, so they’ll know where to go and what it may cost if they get sick.

Health leaders said they are also prepared for a mass casualty event, like the shooting after the 2024 Super Bowl parade in Kansas City. Plans are in place so emergency responders and hospitals across the region know exactly how to respond for such an event.

But even if that situation does not unfold during the World Cup, having thousands of extra people on the roads and in the city’s public spaces comes with its own risks. Getting around the city may be more difficult, which could be problematic if someone has a medical emergency.

“There’s a lot of impact that just comes by having an increased population in the city,” said Dr. Jennifer Watts, associate chief medical officer for acute care and inpatient services at Children’s Mercy. “That includes the visitors that are coming, as well as our local population. … It’s going to be an impact that will be felt across our entire region.”

Read the full article via The Beacon

When To Go: Emergency Room vs. Urgent Care

After spending her entire life living with a rare heart defect, 16-year-old Kaylee Stuart is looking forward to something she has never had before, a chance to live without limitations.

Kaylee is the daughter of Relaford Warren Stuart and Krista Stuart of Hays. She was born with Hypoplastic Left Heart Syndrome, a congenital heart defect in which the left side of the heart does not fully develop and cannot effectively pump blood. As a result, the right side of the heart must pump blood to the lungs and the rest of the body.

Relaford said Kaylee recently underwent a heart transplant at Children's Mercy in Kansas City. He said the family was told to expect a wait of up to two years after she was placed on the transplant list April 6.

"We got the call a little over six weeks after we were on the list saying, 'Hey, we got a match. You need to get here.'" he said.

Read the full story via the Hays Post

The Ward Family Heart Center at Children's Mercy

The Brendan Tripp Elam Transplant Center at Children's Mercy

By Kerri Stowell

Children’s Mercy Kansas is introducing its newest staff member, a four-legged “dog-ter” named Benny.

Benny works with the pediatric care team to help bring joy to young patients battling illness.

He is a 2-year-old golden retriever mix. He works alongside a certified child life specialist to help patients cope with being in the hospital and the treatments they’re undergoing.

From participating in art projects and other bedside activities, to walking with patients, or simply sitting next to them in an exam room, Benny provides much needed emotional support.

Benny’s placement is thanks to the Dunkin Joy in Childhood Foundation, which helps place dogs at hospitals nationwide.

See the full story via Fox 4

Children's Mercy Facility Dog Program

When Alejandro Quiroga, MD, describes the more than $1 billion acute care tower Children’s Mercy is building in Kansas City, Mo., he frames it less as an expansion than a necessity.

The tower, planned for the system’s flagship Adele Hall campus downtown, will expand total capacity by 25% to 30%, with a new home for the pediatric and neonatal intensive care units, an expanded emergency department and a surgical center built for robotics. Enabling work is expected to begin this fall, with completion targeted for 2031. It comes amid a wave of large capital projects across health systems, with Children’s Mercy among 14 health system projects worth $500 million or more in 2026. Third-party assessments by Deloitte and HDR found that within five years, the system’s existing footprint would meet only 67% of projected bed needs and 40% of projected NICU demand, according to a health system news release.

The math made the decision easy to validate for Dr. Quiroga, president and CEO of Children’s Mercy.

“When we analyze where we’re going to be five years from today, if we don’t expand our capacity, we will not be able to fulfill the needs of our community and the growth that comes with that,” he told Becker’s. “Even when I was interviewing for this role, it was easy to see: from the financials, from our position, from talking to the team. And once I got into the role, it was fairly easy to validate those assumptions.”

Read the full article via Becker's Hospital Review

PRESS RELEASE: Children's Mercy Announces New Acute Care Tower at Adele Hall Campus to Meet Urgent Growing Pediatric Needs

The events raise money for pediatric cancer research and support for Children's Mercy.

As TODAY's Al Roker reports, since starting in 2010, the Big Slick has raised more than $34 million and continues to grow.

See the full story via The TODAY Show.

Learn more about Big Slick 

The Children's Mercy Cancer Center

Research information for families

As the defending world champions prepare to make its home in Kansas City for the 2026 FIFA World Cup, one local teenager has an extra reason to be excited.

Seventeen-year-old Jeremias Caromona has been rehabbing a back injury at the Children’s Mercy Sports Medicine Center in Village West after getting hurt while playing soccer.

In less than a week, the facility will officially become the training base camp for Argentina, the reigning World Cup champion and Caromona’s favorite team.

“Honestly, I'd be happy to see any player,” Caromona said.

For him, the timing could not be better.

“Knowing that I'm going to be here for physical therapy, I'm like, ‘Oh my, this is awesome to hear, even better,’” he said.

Caromona’s family is from Argentina, making the opportunity even more meaningful.

See the full story via KMBC 9

Children's Mercy Sports Medicine Center

Children’s Mercy is collaborating with New York-based Basepath Health to expand its cell and gene program, which will allow patients faster access to the FDA-regulated therapies. 

The collaboration will accelerate the hospital’s process of getting approved as a site for cell and gene therapies and help doctors faster identify qualified patients, said Brian O’Neal, vice president of Allied Health at Children’s Mercy.

It will add eight to 10 cell-and-gene specific jobs at Children’s Mercy in the next three years and bolster research on the treatment.

“As soon as it’s FDA-approved, patients know, and they want access,” O’Neal said. “You don’t want to tell them, 'You have to wait for a year and a half, and then we’ll get you in here.'"

Cell and gene therapy treatments target rare genetic disorders, aggressive cancers and other complex diseases. They aim to halt or reverse disease progression, often with a single treatment, according to a release from Children's Mercy.

Read the full article via The Kansas City Business Journal

PRESS RELEASE: From Breakthrough to Bedside: Children's Mercy Collaborates with Basepath Health to Expand Delivery of Life-Changing Cell and Gene Therapies

The final beam was hoisted into place on Monday afternoon just off U.S. 65 between Springfield and Ozark. That is where the O’Reilly Pediatric Center is expected to open by the end of the year.

See the full story via KY 3

PRESS RELEASE: Children's Mercy and Mercy Springfield Communities Celebrate Construction Milestone

Children's Mercy with Mercy O'Reilly Pediatric Center in Springfield

That’s the minimum it takes for a hospital to even be considered for Magnet designation.

And those questions aren’t multiple choice. All 104 require essays, including documentation and outcomes behind the stories of nursing excellence.

Just 9% of U.S. hospitals have received this honor from the American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC).

Less than 1% of them have earned the prestigious Magnet designation six times. Among them, only two pediatric hospitals: Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago and Children’s Mercy Kansas City.

Everyday excellence

Nursing leaders responsible for the hefty applications say they’ve been successful because recognition follows the work at their hospitals, rather than driving it.

“We don’t do things for Magnet. We achieve Magnet because of the things we do, which actually makes my job a lot easier,” said Paula Blizzard, RN, Children’s Mercy’s senior director of nursing excellence. “Instead of saying ‘oh, we have a gap in the application here; we’ve got to throw a project together,’ we’re able to look and see what great things our nurses are already doing at the bedside every day. And then I get to tell those stories to the appraisers.”

Read the full article via the Children's Hospital Association

Celebrating Six-cess in Nursing Excellence

Nursing at Children's Mercy

Children’s Mercy Kansas City will transform its main campus with the biggest single capital investment in the hospital system's 129-year history — a $1 billion-plus patient tower on Hospital Hill.

Children's Mercy on Wednesday formally announced an expansion of its flagship Adele Hall Campus with an acute care patient tower fronting Gillham Road.

Early plans call for a new home for the hospital's pediatric and neonatal intensive care units, as well as an expansion of its emergency department to increase patient capacity. The tower is in the early stages of design, the hospital system said.

"The complexity of pediatric care continues to evolve, and we find ourselves at a point of great responsibility with the promises that we've made to the community, when we are the only quaternary pediatric enterprise in about a 200-mile radius," Children's Mercy CEO Dr. Alejandro Quiroga said in an interview. "So capacity, when we are in such a position of responsibility, is a big issue, and when we do analysis, we know that, to be able to have a bed available for everybody, we're going to have to grow the acute care part of our facilities."

Read the full article via The Kansas City Business Journal

PRESS RELEASE: Children’s Mercy Announces New Acute Care Tower at Adele Hall Campus to Meet Urgent Growing Pediatric Needs

When social media platforms like Friendster, Myspace and Facebook debuted in the early 2000s, they ushered in a dazzling new era in which people could easily reconnect with long-lost classmates, share photos of their weddings and breakfasts alike and laugh together over the latest GIFs and memes.

Since then, we’ve discovered some unintended consequences, which range from more heated political arguments at the dinner table to cyberbullying, misinformation, data privacy issues and mental health concerns.

Libby Milkovich, a developmental and behavioral pediatrician at Children’s Mercy Hospital and ambassador for the AAP’s Center of Excellence on Social Media and Youth Mental Health, cited the impact of social media on executive functioning skills, like learning to work through boredom or practicing delayed gratification.

“It interferes with our ability to create healthy coping skills,” she said. “We go to our phone or to social media as (a means of) avoiding. And so that does not allow us to practice more beneficial types of coping when we’re distressed.”

Read the full article via The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Children's Mercy Parentish: Understanding children’s mental health and phone use in schools

The Kansas City Royals and Children’s Mercy brought free baseball training to students in the Center School District on Saturday April 18.

Dozens of kids hit the field for the “Baseball for All” camp. The program aims to develop baseball skills and give them experience they can use on and off the field.

Donations helped rebuild the school’s outdoor batting cages, swapping dirt and mud for turf so players can practice no matter the weather.

See the full story via KCTV 5

KCTV 5: Kids sign autographs for Royals players in role reversal

If you were to meet Wyatt today, you’d see a joyful, energetic little boy who loves Disney movies, baseball and making people laugh. Happiest when he’s with his family, Wyatt is finally getting to enjoy the simple moments of childhood, but his journey hasn’t been simple.

Wyatt’s care at Children’s Mercy began before he was born. At a routine 20-week ultrasound, what should have been a joyful milestone quickly became devastating. His parents learned that his kidneys, ureters and bladder were severely swollen, and they weren’t sure if their baby would survive.

“Transitioning from being a mom of one healthy kiddo to a medical mom is a shift nothing can fully prepare you for,” his mom, Hannah, said.

Soon after, the family was referred to Children’s Mercy, where the Elizabeth J. Ferrell Fetal Health Center took over care for the remainder of Hannah’s pregnancy. For 17 weeks, specialists from fetal health, neonatology and nephrology worked together to guide the family through an overwhelming time such as answering questions, explaining what to expect and offering reassurance along the way.

See the full story and the tower lighting via KCTV 5

The Brendan Tripp Elam Transplant Center at Children's Mercy

Later this month, Children’s Mercy Hospital is expected to formally announce a major expansion of its downtown campus.

Plans filed with the city reveal a seven-phase project that may eventually include four new hospital buildings, two medical office buildings and two administrative office buildings.

Children’s Mercy officials declined to discuss the project, its cost or a timeline. 

But even if only a portion of the plan is completed, it is likely to represent a substantial investment in the pediatric hospital’s flagship Adele Hall campus, roughly located between Gillham Road and Holmes Street on Hospital Hill.

The project also fits neatly into Children’s Mercy’s recent aggressive push to expand its footprint well outside of Kansas City. 

Read the full article via The Beacon

PRESS RELEASE: Children's Mercy Appoints Pediatrician and Community Advocate to Leadership Role for Springfield Joint Venture with Mercy

KSN: New Children's Mercy clinic hosts beam-raising event

The University of Kansas Health System, the University of Kansas Medical Center, Children’s Mercy and BAMF Health announced in February 2026 their collaboration on a new fully integrated theranostics research and treatment center — one of the first of its kind in the nation. The center will unite diagnostics, molecular imaging, radiopharmaceutical production and targeted therapies under one coordinated platform to provide more precise, less invasive care.

A key feature of the initiative is its strong emphasis on pediatric access. While theranostics is currently used mainly in adult care, Children’s Mercy is among the first pediatric systems to invest early, ensuring children benefit from emerging therapies without delay.

See the full article via the American Hospital Association

PRESS RELEASE: The University of Kansas Health System, University of Kansas Medical Center, Children’s Mercy and BAMF Health To Develop Fully Integrated Destination Theranostic Research and Treatment Center

Children’s Mercy just opened a new Express Care and Orthopedic Injury Clinic near Interstate 35 and Highway 291, 9713 N. Ash Avenue. The location is in the same strip mall area as the Price Chopper and future Betty Rae’s Ice Cream.

The new location opened Monday, March 16.

Prior to the opening, the Courier-Tribune took a tour of the facility with Allison Malicoat, nursing director for Northland Urgent Care and Express Care, and Coley Vitztum, service line director, orthopedics.

The facility’s Express Care side is designed for families who need treatment for minor illnesses at times when other care options are not always available. The Orthopedic Injury Clinic will be staffed by orthopedic specialists who can treat broken bones, strains, sprains and other orthopedic injuries. The location will offer walk-in and online scheduling options with evening and weekend hours.

Read the full article via the Courier Tribune

Children's Mercy on Ash Avenue

Children’s Mercy signed a licensing agreement to help bring to market a treatment that could help children and adults with movement disorders and Parkinson’s disease.

The Kansas City-based hospital said it signed an exclusive licensing deal with Vima Therapeutics for VIM0423. The oral treatment, developed by Children’s Mercy researchers, has a Fast Track designation by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to move to trials.

“This agreement accelerates innovation from the lab to the bedside, turning discovery into care,” Steven Leeder, chief scientific officer for Children’s Mercy Research Institute, said in a release. “It’s more than a licensing deal; it’s a testament to what’s possible when innovation and compassion come together.”

Read the full article via The Kansas City Business Journal

PRESS RELEASE: Children’s Mercy Announces Exclusive License Agreement to Advance Innovative Therapy for Dystonia and Parkinson’s Disease

Children’s Mercy, based in Kansas City, Mo., has raised $150 million to address the pediatric mental health crisis across the region.

The five-year Illuminate initiative, launched in summer 2023, focuses on facilitating early intervention, increasing specialty services, investing in research and innovation, and expanding hospital care. Since its launch, Children’s Mercy has introduced nearly 14 initiatives under the plan.

More than 5,000 donors supported the effort. 

See the full article via Becker's Hospital Review

Illuminate: Lighting the Path Forward for Mental Health

A Kansas City mother is being honored during Black History Month for turning her family’s personal struggle into a mission that is saving lives across the community.

Sheena Anderson received the Dr. Charles Drew Lifesaver Award from the Community Blood Center for her advocacy work supporting people living with sickle cell disease.

Anderson became an advocate after her 12-year-old son was diagnosed with sickle cell disease.

Since then, she has organized multiple blood drives, including one in Grandview last September, to help patients who depend on regular blood transfusions to survive.

Doctors say Anderson’s efforts have helped increase access to safer and more compatible blood for patients with sickle cell disease.

“Her efforts made a ripple effect in the community providing safer and more blood supply to individuals with sickle cell disease including children in our own program,” said Dr. Shabnam Arsiwala, director of the Sickle Cell Disease Program at Children’s Mercy.

See the full story via KMBC 9

Children's Mercy Sickle Cell Disease Program

Burnout and the graying of the workforce are the latest challenges healthcare employers are grappling with — but there have been many challenges over the past 50 years.

What’s changed is the level of investment and the development of innovative approaches to tackle issues related to advancement opportunities, training, compensation and scheduling flexibility. Technology and artificial intelligence have changed some healthcare roles but the industry has been a consistent leader in the labor market, adding almost 700,000 jobs through the first 11 months of 2025.

”We fully expect that healthcare will continue to grow and add jobs almost regardless of what the rest of the economy does,” said Daniel Zhao, chief economist for Glassdoor.

Here‘s some of the biggest staffing trends in the industry today.

Workers want more technology

Burnout has been an enduring challenge for healthcare workers, but more employers are turning to technology to help alleviate some stressors like administrative tasks.

Children’s Mercy in Kansas City, Missouri, created the Helen App, an AI-powered program for nurses to use to reduce administrative burden. Through the app, nurses can submit requests for help with tasks including supply delivery and patient admissions or discharges. The app routes the request to the right team.

The app was developed to help combat staff burnout, said Dr. Alejandro Quiroga, president and CEO of Children’s Mercy.

“What we have done is offset a lot of the tasks that are not clinical,” Quiroga said. “It has decreased the cognitive load for the nurses, improved the relationship between nurse and patients and saved nurses time — up to an hour per shift. We think that we can have improve that amount of time even further.”

See the full article via Modern Healthcare

PRESS RELEASE: Children’s Mercy Launches Helen App to Transform Pediatric Care and Combat Nurse Burnout

By Jay Asser

When hospital leaders try to fix workforce burnout, they often respond by reaching for the same tools to quantify solutions.

Pro formas and ROI models can be useful for alleviating strain, but Dr. Alejandro Quiroga, president and CEO of Children's Mercy Kansas City, believes that approach misses the point.

"A complicated problem has a solution that you can know the answer ahead," Quiroga tells HealthLeaders. "Sending a rocket to the moon is a complicated, not a complex problem. Why? People have done it."

Burnout, he argues, is not that kind of problem because it's complex, and "a complex problem doesn't have a solvable answer."

The distinction of complex versus complicated has become foundational to how Quiroga approaches workforce challenges. In his view, healthcare leaders often apply engineering-style thinking to problems that are human and adaptive at their core.

Read the full article via HealthLeaders

PRESS RELEASE: Children's Mercy Launches Helen App to Transform Pediatric Care and Combat Nurse Burnout

A few years ago, I met a veteran with a history of cardiac disease in Colorado. He lives in a medical desert, where the nearest hospital or doctor is hours away, and where the absence of timely access to a basic heart scan can quite literally be a matter of life and death.

During that interaction, I saw firsthand how the power of an AI-powered palm-sized ultrasound machine enabled a healthcare professional to acquire high-quality cardiac ultrasound images with confidence. This allowed the veteran to get preventive care in a nearby clinic rather than travel hours to the nearest hospital.

5 Healthcare AI Predictions For 2026

Allow me to explain. Exciting transformations are on the horizon. Here are five predictions about how AI, coupled with that old mandate of trust, will shape the next chapter of healthcare innovation in 2026 and beyond.

1. AI will move from experiments to essential infrastructure.

AI will become embedded in the systems that keep hospitals running every day. We are already seeing this dynamic play out in the real world. At Children’s Mercy Kansas City, optimized patient flow has been associated with an 86% reduction in patient admission delays and an 87% reduction in canceled surgeries. These improvements can contribute to shorter wait times for patients, smoother operations for clinicians and clearer visibility for administrators.

However, capturing these gains requires clear ownership and strong operational discipline. Setting basic performance expectations, keeping an eye on real-world results and treating AI with the same rigor as any other critical infrastructure can help ensure it delivers consistent value.

See the full article via Forbes

PRESS RELEASE: Children’s Mercy Kansas City, GE HealthCare Launch Nation’s First Pediatric Hospital Operations Center to Improve Patient Care

By Kristin Kuchno

As hospitals and health systems prioritize workforce well-being, they are moving siloed efforts into enterprisewide strategies.

Over the past two years at Kansas City, Mo.-based Children’s Mercy, this has involved unifying historically separate efforts under “CMWell,” an enterprise framework connecting TakeCARE/HR, which involves individual and family well-being; the Center for Wellbeing; and the Berry Institute, which focuses on career development and leadership.

“We aligned on one vision — a comprehensive culture of well‑being so all team members can flourish — and organized our work around three enterprise mechanisms: bi‑directional data, coordinated programs and consistent communication,” Chief People Officer Michelle Wimes told Becker’s. “This shift included a shared steering committee and a well-being advisory council to prioritize needs and remove duplication, with a monthly cadence between HR/TakeCARE and the Center for Wellbeing to keep execution tight.”

In practice, these efforts have clarified ownership, improved wayfinding to services and supported recognition milestones while simplifying access and increasing utilization, particularly for night-shift and distributed teams, Ms. Wimes said.

Read the full article via Becker's Hospital Review

Children's Mercy Center for Wellbeing

Children's Mercy Berry Institute

In his first year leading Children’s Mercy in Kansas City as President and CEO, Alejandro (Ale) Quiroga, MD, MBA, immersed himself in the people, purpose, and history of the 128-year-old institution.  

Quiroga set out to meet as many employees as possible in his first 90 days — a deliberate effort to connect with the 9,000 individuals who power Children’s Mercy across 16 locations and remote settings. 

He found himself moved by the depth of purpose. The tenure of staff, the steadfast culture, and the quiet, innovative programs. 

His observations, learnings, and reflections have established a weekly series of internal blogs and external LinkedIn posts. These posts are vulnerable and thoughtful and challenge traditional health care narratives to tell more human stories. 

CHA asked Quiroga about his first year as CEO and why he believes leaders should use their platforms with intention and courage. 

1. How was your first year at Children’s Mercy? 

It was amazing; one year felt like three to five CEO years. The process of transitioning to a new leader can be traumatic for an organization. Being intentional mattered. We made the commitment to meet everybody, and it gave me a three-dimensional view of our soul and culture — what we value, our challenges, and what makes us proud. That inward year shaped the progress that followed. 

Alejandro Quiroga, MD, MBA, meets with Children's Mercy staff.

2. How would you describe your leadership philosophy? 

Growing in my leadership, I’ve always struggled when people talk about servant leadership. Not because I don’t like the concept, but because it did not sound genuine.  

But leadership really is about serving people — the community and the people who care for them. Health care systems can be very corporate, but my job is to design systems that are sustainable and improve how we serve the community. 

See the full article via the Children's Hospital Association

Jeremy M. Fotheringham, J.D., MHSA, R.N., Academic, St. Louis & Southern Illinois regional president for SSM Health – St. Louis, was elected to serve as 2026 chair-elect, anticipating his role as MHA board chair in 2027. 

Karla Clubine, CEO of General John J. Pershing Memorial Hospital in Brookfield, Mo., and Jason Shenefield, president and CEO of Phelps Health in Rolla, Mo., were elected to three-year terms. Three additional leaders were elected to serve one-year terms. Stephanie Meyer, R.N., MS-FNP, NEA-BC, executive vice president and chief nurse executive, and COO of acute care with Children’s Mercy Kansas City, will return to the board as the nurse executive. Darin Haug, D.O., FACOI, FACOP, chief medical officer and E.D. medical director with Fitzgibbon Hospital in Marshall, Mo., will serve as the physician trustee, and Dan Hegeman, past board member of both Heartland Regional Medical Center and Heartland Health Board of Directors, now known as Mosaic Health System Board of Trustees in St. Joseph, Mo., will serve as the hospital trustee member. 

See the full article via the Missouri Hospital Association

Nursing at Children's Mercy

Across the nation, hospitals are moving beyond crisis response to redesign care systems, embedding behavioral health clinicians into pediatric clinics, forging partnerships with schools and community providers, and using telehealth to reach underserved populations. These approaches are driving earlier interventions, better outcomes, and more efficient use of health system capacity — offering real promise for an issue that affects millions of young people and their families and friends.

These real-world strategies are captured in the American Hospital Association’s recently released Integrating Behavioral Health into Pediatric Care: Hospital-led Solutions to a Growing Crisis report, which outlines five hospital case studies showing how systems are integrating behavioral health and pediatric care to address a growing clinical demand.

Hospital-Led Solutions in Action

The AHA report’s case studies illustrate how integration is taking shape across different communities and health system models:

1 | Nemours Children’s Health (Multi-state)

Nemours has embedded behavioral health clinicians within both pediatric primary care and specialty clinics. By enabling real-time consultation during well-child and specialty visits, clinicians can identify concerns early and provide immediate support or referral — reducing reliance on emergency care and long wait lists for specialty services.

2 | Children’s Mercy (Kansas City, Mo.)

This system is expanding integrated care through a Partial Hospitalization Program and coordinated behavioral health hubs that connect outpatient clinics with crisis intervention resources. Early evidence from integrated behavioral health teams suggests improved access for underserved children and more seamless transitions from acute care to ongoing support.

Read the full article via the American Hospital Association

Illuminate: Lighting the Path Forward for Menta Health

By Max Havey

Debbie Schwartzkopf has been working at Children’s Mercy in some capacity for the last 30 years.

She started as a student nurse, eventually working her way up to more operations-focused roles before taking over as chief administrative officer of Children’s Mercy with Mercy in August 2025.

Because pediatrics was previously embedded in the adult system at Mercy Springfield, one of Schwartzkopf’s key goals is uniting it with the Children’s Mercy pediatric system. “The biggest challenge now is recognizing that pediatrics is what we do,” Schwartzkopf says. “We want to make sure we’re able to bring that to life as its own entity in Springfield.”

Read the full article via Biz 417

PRESS RELEASE: Children's Mercy Announces Leadership Role for Springfield Joint Venture

Of the 650 U.S. hospitals designated as “Magnet” hospitals for nursing excellence, about 5% have earned the recognition more than six times. 

The American Nurses Credentialing Center awards Magnet recognition to hospitals based on their quality of patient care and nursing excellence. As of Dec. 31, 32 hospitals have received six or more Magnet designations — representing just 0.53% of the nation’s 6,093 hospitals. 

Since mid-2025, four hospitals have earned their sixth Magnet designation: St. Joseph’s Hospital in Savannah, Ga., St. Luke’s Boise Medical Center in Idaho, Lehigh Valley Hospital in Allentown, Pa., and Southwestern Vermont Medical Center in Bennington. 

Below are the 32 hospitals that have received this honor six or more times:

Alabama

UAB Hospital (Birmingham)

California

Cedars-Sinai Medical Center (Los Angeles)

Colorado

UCHealth Poudre Valley Hospital (Fort Collins)

UCHealth University of Colorado Hospital (Aurora)

Connecticut

Middlesex Health (Middletown)

Florida

Baptist Health Baptist Hospital of Miami

Georgia

Candler Hospital (Savannah)

Emory Saint Joseph’s Hospital (Atlanta)

St. Joseph’s Hospital (Savannah)

Idaho

St. Luke’s Boise Medical Center

Illinois

Ann and Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago

Rush University Medical Center (Chicago)

Minnesota

Mayo Clinic Rochester

Missouri

Children’s Mercy Kansas City

See the full list via Becker's Hospital Review

By Grace Mayer

Children’s Mercy welcomed a new chief compliance officer and vice president.

Abby Jackson joins the Kansas City-based pediatric hospital from Southwestern Health Resources, a network formed by UT Southwestern Medical Center and Texas Health Resources. Jackson was chief compliance officer for the network.

She will move to the metro from Texas, where she has spent most of her career. Jackson worked in various leadership roles at UT Southwestern Medical Center for six years. Before that, she worked in health care consulting roles at the business consulting firm Protiviti for more than four years.

“Abby’s deep expertise in compliance and privacy, coupled with her leadership in complex healthcare environments, strengthens our commitment to provide exceptional care for children and families, and the communities we serve,” Children's Mercy said in a statement to the Kansas City Business Journal.

Read the full article via The Kansas City Business Journal

A swarm of emergency vehicles surrounded Children’s Mercy Hospital Wednesday night, but it wasn’t an emergency. It was an effort to bring holiday cheer to kids cooped up in the hospital.

The event, called Children’s Mercy Night Lights, is in its fourth year. It features police cars, fire trucks, ambulances and tow trucks flashing their lights for kids and families to see out the windows as they circle the hospital’s research building.

“We do trees and Santa Claus, too, at the hospital, but that’s all inside the hospital. We have so many people in the community that want to show their gratitude and their respect to our patients here. This is their way of giving back,” said Trista Cobbins, Children’s Mercy Hospital manager of patient and family programs.

See the full story via KCTV 5

Members of the O’Reilly family have provided the lead donation for the new Children’s Mercy With Mercy Pediatric Clinic, to be built on Mercy’s south Springfield campus in Ozark.

The donation comes from the families of Charlie and Mary Beth O’Reilly, David and Stacey O’Reilly, Larry and Anya O’Reilly, and Rosalie and Tal O’Reilly Wooten.

“When we heard about Mercy’s and Children’s Mercy’s effort to enhance pediatric care for kids across southwest Missouri, we knew we wanted to be involved and help make a generational change for kids in our community,” Rosalie O’Reilly Wooten said in a press release. “This clinic will make it easier for kids to access a range of specialists, and its design and functionality will be built around their needs.

“This is what makes all of Children’s Mercy clinics and hospitals so unique. They’re truly built for kids, and we can’t wait for that dedication and expertise to come to Springfield.”

Plans for the new pediatric clinic were announced Nov. 19, and work on the site is scheduled to begin this month. 

Read the full article via the Springfield Daily Citizen

PRESS RELEASE: Children's Mercy and Mercy Springfield Communities to Build Dedicated Pediatric Facility in Springfield

Children's Mercy with Mercy

Children's Mercy will add a new medical office building on the northwest side of its Overland Park campus.

The existing hospital building at 5808 W. 110th St. is four stories with a two-story penthouse roof/medical tower and landing pad. The medical office will be four stories with an additional two-story penthouse space for the roof to align with the existing building. A hospital penthouse is an enclosed rooftop structure typically used to store equipment such as generators or HVAC components. 

Children’s Mercy plans to expand its existing lobby by about 7,000 square feet to connect the medical office to the existing hospital. A covered drop-off canopy structure will stretch from east side of the new building to the expanded lobby entrance of the 52-bed hospital. 

Read the full article via The Kansas City Business Journal

PRESS RELEASE: Children's Mercy Announces $152M Expansion Plan for Children's Mercy Kansas