St. John's changes name

St. John's officially became Mercy that day -- along with all St. John's Clinic locations across the area, and Missouri hospitals in Springfield, Cassville, Joplin, Lebanon, Aurora and Mountain View.

Over the next year, Mercy facilities across seven states will make the transition to one Mercy name.

A few of the 200 co-workers at Mercy posed for a photo together during the name change ceremony Tuesday. Photo submitted

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"Forty-five years ago we had a ground-breaking ceremony," he recalled. "Two years later, in 1969, we put a man on the moon and two months later Carroll General opened."

He said patients paid $4 to $6 a day for a semi-private room and $12 for a private room.

The population of Berryville was 1,900 at the time, there was no Walmart but its forerunner, a Walton Family Center, was open for business in the Williams Shopping Center.

Board members were appointed by Judge Arthur Carter, he said. They were all businessmen who knew nothing about running a hospital.

Carroll General was constructed for $720,000 using Halliburton funds and a voter-approved 3.5 mil temporary 20-year tax.

There were four family practitioners at the time, he said, A.L. Carter, Wayne Jones, Charles Poynor and Oliver Wallace, along with a small nursing staff.

"We struggled in the early years," Harp remembered. "We didn't have operating funds. If it weren't for our two local banks, First National of Berryville and First National of Green Forest, and St. John's, we wouldn't be open today."

Harp said the hospital changed names over the years, adding "every name change has been for the best."

Kristy Estrem, president of Mercy Hospital Berryville, said this was actually the fifth name change for the hospital.

What began as Carroll General was renamed Carroll Regional Medical Center, St. John's Carroll Regional Medical Center, St. John's Hospital-Berryville, and now Mercy.

Estrem said she has been with the Mercy system 22 years, first at St. Joseph's in Hot Springs before coming to Berryville 17 years ago.

"This truly is an exciting time to be in health care with the many advances in technology," she said.

Estrem was referring to the services now available to rural communities through tele-medicine, the Mercy-wide electronic medical records system, and the introduction of MyMercy, the free online service that allows patients to access medical records, schedule appointments, view lab results and contact their physicians.

"However, it is even more exciting to be part of Mercy," she added.

"We are part of a ministry that crosses seven states, has 30 hospitals, over 36,000 co-workers and 1,500 physicians. We all share the same mission, vision and values.

"Our logo change is just the visual identifying factor that pulls us all together. As we continue to work together to shape a consistent, exceptional experience for our patients, our patients will benefit from knowing us by a common name.

"In many respects, today's celebration is more of a natural evolution than a change. We are more united both culturally and clinically than at any time in our history. Technology is making it possible for us to share health data and provide tele-medicine services into rural areas, making us truly one Mercy.

"We are the people of Mercy," she added, "a healing health ministry, and I'm thrilled to be part of Mercy."

Over the next year, Mercy facilities across seven states will transition to the one Mercy name. The transition has already been under way in Mercy communities across the Midwest with the introduction of MyMercy.

"We owe it to the 3 million patients we serve each year to know us by one name," said Lynn Britton, president and CEO of Mercy. "Adopting the Mercy name is not so much a change as a natural evolution. Our electronic health record has allowed our physicians and medical teams to coordinate care across facilities, communities and even states in ways that were never before possible. It has opened up a whole new world of more convenient and personalized care for our patients."