The Greater Wilkes-Barre
area boasts top-notch healthcare options. The area includes 29 hospitals with
specialties ranging from open heart surgery to neonatal intensive care.
The two main health organizations are Wyoming Valley Healthcare System and Geisinger Healthcare.
Wyoming Valley Health Care System
Wyoming Valley Health Care
System was founded in 1992 with the merger of two of the regions oldest and
most respected health care institutions: Nesbitt
Memorial Hospital
and Wilkes-Barre General
Hospital. Since that
time, it has continued to grow and evolve to provide the most comprehensive
health care in Northeastern Pennsylvania.
In the fall of 2001, all acute care
services at Nesbitt Memorial Hospital
were transferred to and consolidated at Wilkes-Barre General Hospital
- making it the region's largest and finest acute care hospital. Following
extensive renovations, Nesbitt Memorial Hospital
was renamed Nesbitt
Memorial Medical
Center and the majority
of our behavioral health services relocated into the reconstructed facility in
the summer of 2002.
In addition to Wilkes-Barre General Hospital
and Nesbitt Memorial Medical Center,
Wyoming Valley Health Care System
also includes our affiliates:
- Behavioral
Health Services of Wyoming
Valley - including
inpatient and outpatient mental health care and substance abuse services
for children, adolescents and adults.
- Heritage
House and Wyoming Valley Manor - offering retirement, long-term care and
hospice care facilities for patients or seniors.
- Rural
Health Corporation - providing primary care and dental services to
residents in out lying areas of our community.
- United
Health and Hospital Services - providing primary and obstetric care to the
under-served of our community. UHHS also offers the Wyoming Valley Family
Practice Residency Program, which provides practical and educational
training to student physicians.
- Visiting
Nurse Association - providing in-home nursing, personal and hospice care
to residents throughout Luzerne and surrounding counties.
- Wyoming
Valley Health Care System truly is a comprehensive health care system.
Since our merger in 1992, we've come together in a culture of cooperation
and respect with a shared vision of the future. In the finest tradition of
its founding hospitals, Wyoming Valley Health Care System continues its
mission as a vital community health resource by adding new and innovative
services, acquiring the latest medical technology, and expanding the depth
and variety of health care services we offer.
Geisinger Health System
Founded in 1915, Geisinger Health System provides more than two million
people in 38 counties in Pennsylvania
a complete continuum of quality health care. The Geisinger
Health System enjoys national recognition as a model for quality health service
delivery and has been listed in Best Hospitals in America
and our physicians have been listed in The Best Doctors in America.
Geisinger is a physician-led health care
system, dedicated to health care, education, research and service. Now, as we
enter a millennium, we're newly energized to heal, teach, discover, and serve.
Geisinger Health System consists of:
Geisinger South Wilkes-Barre
Geisinger recently purchased Mercy Hospital, Wilkes-Barre
opened its doors on March 7, 1898 under the management of the Sisters of Mercy. Until 1911-- when voluntary
funds became insufficient for maintenance -- free services, nursing care, and
medical supplies were the norm. Mercy continues today as a not-for-profit
institution always striving to embrace the highest values --excellence, human
dignity, justice, mercy, sacredness of life, and service.
Our Growth
After almost a century of
healing, Mercy remains committed to service and response to need. This has
resulted in a major rebirth in the past several years to ensure access to the
most progressive medical techniques and technology available. Mercy Hospital,
Wilkes-Barre
now has 223 beds and over 400 physicians on staff. Each new structure that was
built, expanded, or updated was in response to the patient concerns of that
time.
A key element in Mercy's growth came in 1989,when Mercy Health Care System,
sponsored by the Sisters of Mercy, Province of Scranton, merged with Mercy
Health System, sponsored by the Sisters of Mercy,Province
of Cincinnati, Ohio, to form one of the largest Catholic-sponsored health
systems in America. The organization encompassed 18 hospitals, six long-term
facilities, two residences for the well-elderly, and seven regional holding
companies. The merger helped to protect and preserve Mercy's capability to
perform its mission in the future.
Technology
The new Outpatient Center
at Mercy carries on our commitment to meeting the changing standard of health
care. The sophisticated $18.5 million center was unveiled in 1993, and is the
first in northeastern Pennsylvania
to address the need for a state-of-the-art facility dedicated entirely to the
comprehensive delivery of outpatient services. A home to endoscopic
surgery, podiatry, arthroscopy, ophthalmology, and plastic surgery, the
outpatient center offers patients centralized scheduling, privatere
covery rooms, self-contained specialty suites, and
seven-day diagnostic testing.
The refurbished 10-bed Emergency Unit emphasizes convenience, efficiency and a
rapid, attentive response to patient needs. Twenty-four hour staffing by a team
of emergency specialists, streamlined registration and processing, a three-bed
triage room for immediate patient evaluation and cutting-edge technology
combine to ensure quick, effective treatment. Of course, in the Mercy
tradition, the comfort of patient and family was an important consideration in
the unit's design, which strikes a balance between the science of medicine and
compassion in its delivery.
The VA Residency Program is a collaborative project of Mercy
Hospital, Wilkes-Barre, with the Veteran's
Administration Hospital of Wilkes-Barre. The VA residents rotate through Mercy Hospital
and various Mercy-related community health programs such as the Interfaith
Health Clinic and Health SPAN (Status Promotion Amongst Neighbors) Program. The
residents help to expand the out reach programs in the
community through increased medical services availability.
The Mercy Difference
Mercy Hospital has become
the pace setter in providing comprehensive health care services in the most
convenient, effective,and cost-conscious manner
possible. As it confronts the demands of the 21st century, Mercy
will carry on its tradition of progressive, compassionate care, providing
whatever service is needed, whenever it is needed. This is the foundation of
Mercy's Continuum of Care. This is the Mercy Difference.
