Mercy Iowa City has resumed a normal schedule of surgeries and procedures at the hospital and in its clinics. “Patients should feel absolutely secure in seeking care at Mercy Hospital or with their providers in their offices,” said Steve Scheckel, MD, CMO. “Mercy has done an excellent job of safely caring for patients during this time when COVID-19 has been present in SE Iowa, and will continue to do so. Every precaution has been put in place to keep our patients, visitors and providers safe while we provide the exceptional care our community expects. There is no reason to fear seeking care for your health care needs through Mercy Clinics, Mercy Urgent Care, Mercy Hospital or our Emergency Department.”

Mercy Iowa City believes that although patients may have delayed important doctor visits, screenings, surgeries or other exams, it’s now time to address these needs because nothing is more important than good health. Here are a few of the ways that Mercy Iowa City is protecting your family’s health and safety:

• All patients are tested prior to surgery
• Patients with respiratory symptoms should call their provider to be screened. If they do not have a provider they should call Mercy On Call at 319-358-2767
• Hospital patients with COVID -19 are cared for in designated areas with negative airflow
• We ask colleagues, patients and visitors to wear masks throughout all of our facilities; clinical staff also wear a face shield
• All patients, visitors and personnel (who are temperature screened every day) are screened before entering the hospital and Mercy Clinics locations
• Telehealth visits are available with all Mercy Iowa City providers
• We have social distancing measures in our hospital and clinics including the cafeteria, waiting areas and more
• We follow the CDC’s standards for cleaning and disinfecting surfaces, rooms, linens and more
• Visitors continue to be restricted to only one adult, aged 18 and over, per patient

“We recognize this looks and feels different than a few months ago,” says Dr. Scheckel, “but the new normal means balancing precautions while we provide safe, high quality care for all our patients. Don’t delay your medical care and take the risk that delays to timely care may cause. The Mercy IC team is ready to safely take care of you and your loved ones.”

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About Mercy Iowa City: Mercy Iowa City is an acute care hospital and regional referral center that draws patients from throughout southeast Iowa. For the past four years Mercy Iowa City has been awarded the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid (CMS) 5 Star Rating as a Top 2% of all hospitals, the only hospital in Iowa to do so; is Johnson County’s only accredited Chest Pain Center with an American Heart Association Gold Plus Achievement Award for Stroke Care; received the Top 100 Community Hospitals Award in 2018 and 2019 from Becker’s Review; the Press Ganey Guardian of Excellence Award for Mercy’s Emergency Care Unit by achieving 95 percent for patient experience for eleven consecutive years; an “A” grade for patient safety from Leapfrog; and the Center of Distinction Award from Healogics for Mercy’s Wound and Vein Center. Mercy has 234 acute care beds, 25 private rooms for outpatient surgery, 26 bed nursery with Level II Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, 24 primary and specialty care clinics, a medical staff of 250 physicians representing all major medical specialties and most sub-specialties and 1,400 employees. It was founded by the Sisters of Mercy in 1873 and became an affiliate of MercyOne in 2017. To learn more visit www.mercyiowacity.org.