St. Louis-based Mercy has finalized a lease agreement to operate and manage the county-owned Perry County Memorial Hospital in Perryville, Mo., with the organizations expected to integrate this fall, per Becker’s.
Perry County Memorial will be the 17th critical access hospital that Mercy operates as the owner or through a lease agreement. The initial lease is for eight years with an option to renew for another six. It includes a second option to renew for another six years for a total length of up to 20 years.
Mercy intends to retain all current employees at Perry County Health System. Physicians employed by the system will be invited to join Mercy Clinic. Mercy and the Perry County Memorial Board of Trustees have also agreed that all co-workers who remain in good standing will maintain their roles for at least 18 months.
The integration process will include installing a new EHR through Epic, which will begin with a $6.5 million Mercy investment at Perry County Memorial.
