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Description

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About UPMC Mercy
UPMC Mercy is committed to providing our patients with convenient services and comfortable accommodations Please review the information on the following pages to be more prepared for your visit to UPMC Mercy

As a Catholic hospital UPMC Mercy carries out its mission through a commitment to a set of core values It is an extension of the Catholic health care ministry to all people in the tristate region UPMC Mercy has a longstanding tradition of providing quality health care to all people as well as a commitment to improving the quality of life in the Pittsburgh region

The Mercy Hospital of Pittsburgh the first hospital in Pittsburgh and the first Mercy Hospital in the world was established in 1847 by the Sisters of Mercy It merged with UPMC effective Jan 1 2008 to become the newest member of the UPMC family

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History

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UPMC Mercy History
The Sisters of Mercy a religious congregation founded in Ireland in 1831 by Catherine McAuley brought its caring and compassionate labors to burgeoning industrial Pittsburgh in 1843 Mother Frances Warde led six other sisters to the United States where they founded the first congregation of the Sisters of Mercy in Pittsburgh The pioneering Seven Sisters of Mercy opened the first hospital in Pittsburgh and the worlds first Mercy Hospital on Jan 1 1847 Everyone was welcomed regardless of race nationality age gender or religion Mercy established the regions first teaching hospital with resident physicians in training in 1848

Mercy Hospital grew rapidly with Pittsburgh in the second half of the nineteenth century To qualify for new funding sources the hospital was incorporated a board was established and Thomas M Carnegie was elected board president

The Sisters of Mercy and the dedicated physicians and nurses of Mercy Hospital continued to serve the Pittsburgh region through World War I the worldwide epidemic of Spanish influenza the Great Depression and World War II In 1931 Mercy Hospital donated more than 600000 worth of health care services when one day in the hospital cost under 4 That commitment to the community was demonstrated again when in the 1960s Mercy decided to rebuild and remain in uptown Pittsburgh

Over the next four decades the hospital expanded replaced facilities and developed specialized programs and advanced technology

In 2006 Mercy Hospital decided to seek a strategic partner to strengthen and preserve its faithbased care Mercy Hospital of Pittsburgh merged with UPMC to become UPMC Mercy on Jan 1 2008

The hospital remains Pittsburghs only Catholic hospital with specialized services including include the neurosciences Level I trauma and burn services womens health orthopaedics and physical medicine and rehabilitation

1847 first permanent hospital in Pittsburgh first Mercy Hospital in the world

1933 first bronchoscopy clinic in western Pennsylvania

1954 first high voltage radiation therapy center in western Pennsylvania first hospital in region and among first in the United States to treat cancer patients with cobalt60

1955 first hospital in region and second in the United States to use cinefluorographic movies as a diagnostic procedure

1967 first burn unit in Pennsylvania

1972 Sister Ferdinand Clark the first woman to win the Jaycee Man of the Year in Medicine

1973 first nuclearpowered heart pacemaker implant in Pennsylvania first in region to use ultrasound in tumor and aneurysm detection

1978 Sister M Gonzales Duffy is the first female president of the American Society of Hospital Pharmacists

1991 first intravascular ultrasound in Pittsburgh

1992 first atherectomy procedure in Pittsburgh

1993 first cardiac stent in Pittsburgh

1996 first minimally invasive keyhole procedure to replace aortic valve in Pittsburgh