Mercy Health Foundation is a Catholic organization that works on humanitarian grounds to provide holistic care to people through maternity and women’s health care services, early parenting services, mental health programs, hospitals, aged care facilities, palliative care and home care services. It is a charity organization that works for the advanced care of new born babies, women, and elderly people either sick or dying. It operates in Australian Capital Territory, Western Australia, New South Wales and for people in Victoria. It is based on the years old Catholic tradition of caring for others. It hires people from different cultures and backgrounds who all share a common belief to care for those in need. It is a value-driven organization based on compassion, respect, hospitality, innovation, stewardship and teamwork.
History
Mercy Health Foundation was founded in 1831 by The Sisters of Mercy at Dublin. Their aim was to provide health, aged care and community services for the benefit of the people. For this purpose the Sisters of Mercy went on to establish schools, hospitals and convents in the world. In 1846, the Sisters arrived in Australia and found their first hospital in Sydney and Brisbane. They maintained a reputation for excellence in provision of utmost care and hospitality. Because of this their mission of caring for the people grew in strength.
Initially starting with a desire to care for the poor people particularly women, the effort continued to flourish and evolve according to the changing needs of the community. In 1920 the Sisters of Mercy opened their first hospital in Australia. Later it opened a maternity hospital for women in 1971. In 1996, it added mental health and aged care to its services. With the passage of time it became a dynamic organization caring for people at a vast level at all stages of life. In 2008, a training institute was established to train hard working and professional health care workers. In the same year the organization was named Mercy Health that reflected the vast range of health services that it offered.
Mission, Vision and Values
Mission
The mission of Mercy Health is to follow the way of Jesus Christ in helping the people and follow His vision of mercy through the provision of health, community service and aged care to those in need.
Vision
The vision is to create an everlasting dimension of hope and passion in the world to help those in need of special care.
Values
Mercy Health is a value-based organization that believes in compassion, hospitality, respect, innovation, stewardship and teamwork. It believes in the dignity of every person at all the stages of life. It provides committed and compassionate care to the people in need.
Mercy Health Services
Mercy Health offers a wide variety of services to the people in need. It provides acute hospital care, aged care, specialist women’s health care, early parenting services, health worker’s training and development, palliative care as well as home and community care.
Early Parenting and Maternity Services
Mercy Health offers for women maternity and health care services including diagnosis, special care nursery and midwifery services. It focuses strongly on family wellbeing and infant health and development. It offers group education and programs to enhance parenting skills.
Aged Care Services
To meet the growing needs of the ageing population, Mercy Health offers residential care services in the Australian Capital Territory, Western Australia, New South Wales and Victoria. It is also upgrading its existing facilities and making new ones for enhanced aged care. Mercy Health offers independent living units with high, low and dementia specific care for the elderly.
Hospital and Mental Health Services
Mercy Health ensures the provision of residential and clinical mental health services to people residing in particular areas of Australia where the organization operates. The hospital serves the people with medical, surgical, palliative care, renal dialysis, aged care and emergency services. It has a specific women’s clinic that offers information on general women’s health and breast health awareness.
Home and Community Care
Mercy Health offers home care through home nursing, overnight care, 24 hour live in care, respite care, personal care, socializing and companionship as well as shopping and transport services. Its community care ensures provision of nursing services to older people, disabled people, or people recovering from an illness so that they can live independently and safely at home.
Education and Training
Mercy Health provides education and training to its people for professional development so that they can provide appropriate care to the people in need. It offers education programs to create health care professionals who take pride in their work.
Research
The organization has set up a Mercy Health Board to administer all the research projects and studies undertaken by the Mercy Health facilities. It has done considerable research on a wide range of areas that include palliative care, aged care, gynaecology, reproductive medicine, mental health and all the other areas of concern for the organization. The aim of the research is to improve the quality and outcomes of the health services that are offered for the benefit of the community.
Moreover the Mercy Health Board monitors the performance of the organization and sets policy for future plan of action.
Mercy Health was established with the aim to help the poor people in need. With the passage of time it widened its focus and increased the array of the services it offers. It is a value based organization that believes in the dignity of people at every age. The service it provides focuses on addressing the need of people at every age. It is based on the notion of compassion, respect, hospitality, innovation, teamwork and stewardship. Mercy Health has a number of sub institutions that work for aged care, specialist women health care, mental health services, early parenting services, hospital care, home and community care, as well as training and education for its health care professionals. Hence it became an organization recognized locally and nationally for being professional health care providers to those in need of special care.
