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Independence, MO —
After years of fundraising and more than a year of construction, Children’s Mercy East is set to open on Monday.
“This is going to be a prime facility to care for our children,” Randall L. O’Donnell, president and CEO of Children’s Mercy Hospitals and Clinics, said at a ribbon-cutting ceremony Thursday morning.
This is Children’s Mercy’s fourth hospital, giving it a network of sites at Hospital Hill, in Overland Park, north of the river and now in Eastern Jackson County that covers the metro area. Children’s Mercy also has three clinics.
“It is and it’s going to be a catalyst that’s going to make Independence a mecca for health care,” Independence Mayor Don Reimal said.
Ken McClain, the local attorney and developer who helped spearhead the fundraising drive that got Children’s Mercy East built, said he met earlier this week with a girl, 14, who’s had seven open-heart surgeries but who has received good care through Children’s Mercy and has big plans for her future.
“It’s for this reason, for children like her, that we’re doing this,” McClain said.
O’Donnell echoed that idea with a comment he said he got from a doctor the other day: “You know what I like about Children’s Mercy?” he quoted the doctor as saying. “There’s only one priority – the child.”
Officials on hand also pointed to the hospital’s location, on the edge of Independence but very close to Blue Springs and Lee’s Summit and likely to draw many patients from those cities. Children’s Mercy says Eastern Jackson Jackson accounted for 75,000 visits to its hospitals in 2011, a 10 percent increase from 2010.
“Children’s Mercy East is truly an asset to our collective communities,” said Lee’s Summit Mayor Randy Rhoads.
The three-story, 55,000-square-foot building sits at 20300 E. Valley View Parkway, just off Interstate 70. A major piece of the funding was a $1 million challenge grant from the J.E. & L.E. Mabee Foundation, matched with $5.5 million raised locally.
The new hospital’s specialty clinics will be open from 8 to 5 on weekdays, though not every clinic will be offered every day. Those include ear, nose and throat; cardiology; endocrinology; gastroenterology; neurology; orthopedics; hearing and speech; rehabilitation medicine; sports medicine; and imaging and radiology.
The urgent care center will be open from noon to 10 p.m. every day.
After years of fundraising and more than a year of construction, Children’s Mercy East is set to open on Monday.
“This is going to be a prime facility to care for our children,” Randall L. O’Donnell, president and CEO of Children’s Mercy Hospitals and Clinics, said at a ribbon-cutting ceremony Thursday morning.
This is Children’s Mercy’s fourth hospital, giving it a network of sites at Hospital Hill, in Overland Park, north of the river and now in Eastern Jackson County that covers the metro area. Children’s Mercy also has three clinics.
“It is and it’s going to be a catalyst that’s going to make Independence a mecca for health care,” Independence Mayor Don Reimal said.
Ken McClain, the local attorney and developer who helped spearhead the fundraising drive that got Children’s Mercy East built, said he met earlier this week with a girl, 14, who’s had seven open-heart surgeries but who has received good care through Children’s Mercy and has big plans for her future.
“It’s for this reason, for children like her, that we’re doing this,” McClain said.
O’Donnell echoed that idea with a comment he said he got from a doctor the other day: “You know what I like about Children’s Mercy?” he quoted the doctor as saying. “There’s only one priority – the child.”
Officials on hand also pointed to the hospital’s location, on the edge of Independence but very close to Blue Springs and Lee’s Summit and likely to draw many patients from those cities. Children’s Mercy says Eastern Jackson Jackson accounted for 75,000 visits to its hospitals in 2011, a 10 percent increase from 2010.
“Children’s Mercy East is truly an asset to our collective communities,” said Lee’s Summit Mayor Randy Rhoads.
The three-story, 55,000-square-foot building sits at 20300 E. Valley View Parkway, just off Interstate 70. A major piece of the funding was a $1 million challenge grant from the J.E. & L.E. Mabee Foundation, matched with $5.5 million raised locally.
The new hospital’s specialty clinics will be open from 8 to 5 on weekdays, though not every clinic will be offered every day. Those include ear, nose and throat; cardiology; endocrinology; gastroenterology; neurology; orthopedics; hearing and speech; rehabilitation medicine; sports medicine; and imaging and radiology.
The urgent care center will be open from noon to 10 p.m. every day.
