I would just like to express my gratitude to those who have had positive comments about the staff here at Mercy Hospital. It is VERY much appreciated. Have a good day!

I guess I am really, really fortunate. I have made it 56 years and never spent a night in a hospital until 2 months ago. I found the entire staff, from the ER, Admitting, Dr.s, Nurses and operating room to be professional, knowledgeable, compassionate and caring. I have nothing but praise for Mercy. I also have had relatives with Dean care, and found the same level of committment at both Riverview Clinc and St. Marys Hospital in Madson that I received at Mercy. I think there is enough room and need for both in Janesville. I have never had any experience with Beloit or Edgerton, but like any business, competion is good. If they treat their patients well and do a good job, they will survive.

cmalpsv, I agree. I've had good experiences with both Mercy and Dean. (Most Dean patients have had to go to Mercy, of course, for any hospital services.) It baffles me why people take such emotional sides when the differences between the two are really very little.
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The number one reason that this hospital is being built is so that Dean can cover most hospitalizations within its own network. It must be truly frustrating for them, now that both are the size they are, to depend so heavily on a primary competitor. But people come up with all sorts of standards that even if they're realistic may not actually apply here. So what if it's only 50 beds? Do people know how small some rural hospitals are?

The competition that this new facility provides will certainly be good for Janesville. What makes me crazy is the anger that this subject seems to bring out. I have been in the ER waiting room (granted it was a long wait) when people call the admitting staff filthy names because the nursing staff took in a person who was blue around the lips complaining of breathing problems and this guy dropped something on his foot and was having pain. Strangely enough, he was able to walk in and out of the entrance to smoke, while he was waiting. Does that make sense?? People's perceptions are different, that should be taken into account when on this subject. I have been a patient at Mercy Hospital and had wonderful care by nurses, doctors, etc. Before we had insurance, my husband had to go to Urgent Care at Riverview and he had great care as well. Why do people have to get so darned nasty?

It's too bad we can't pick and choose from each of these facilities. On the one hand, Mercy has had some nurses with bad attitudes, but I have not met a Dr affiliated with Mercy that has not been attentive to my needs or has had a bad attitude. I have also seen nurses at Beloit that have been fantastic, but a few of the Doctors don't seem to place much importance on my loved one's illness. I do agree with the person that said the Emergency Room people at Mercy leave quite a bit to be desired. Especially the admitting people. They can be quite rude and when you are forced to go there it's because you are in dire need of care. It doesn't help when you are being treated so badly.

My understanding is that the 50 beds was determined through significant planning. Dean / St Mary's needed an alternative to Mercy Hospital in Janesville for their shared Health Plan patients (Dean Health Plan is co-owned by the Dean Health System and St Mary's). Even with the loss of GM there was apparently enough information to suggest that their Rock County Health Plan population could support 50 beds. This hospital is not intended to put Mercy out of business. It's intended to give Dean and St Mary's a more competitive position in providing health care to the entire area.

The facility hasn't even been constructed and look at all the people who already know what type of hospital it's going to be! All these people should be filthy rich by now if they're that psychic! I know far and well how "word of mouth" things work, I do it for a living. 99% of "opinions" are just that...OPINIONS! We live in a society where it's so easy to judge and condemn, rather than love and appreciate. Why is that so hard? Would you want people saying something negative about you? Especially if it's unwarranted??? Live and let live! You never know, that hospital that so many seem to know how BAD it already is might just save someone's life that's very near and dear to you! God bless.

Dont think the grass is greener on the other side! I recently had surgery at St. Marys in Madison and had a horrible experience. The nurses were rude and lacked common nursing knowledge. The people on these blogs complain all the time about everything, it is easier for them, I guess then saying anything positive. I do not have Mercy insurance anymore but except for their emergency room I have nothing but good to say! A hospital is not a vacation most of the time your there because you are sick so chances are you are stressed or confused about whats going on. People need to get educated on health care and take responsibility of it, afterall it is YOUR life!

50 beds?? isn't that a little small??

mercy hospital is good hospital,what gives it such a bad name is that crappy emergency room, where they treat you like dirt,and those snotty second floor nurses.we take my dad there every week for a medical procedure, and they treat him great.what mercy hospital needs is a class to teach some of their employees some manners and compassion.and for some of those emergency room doctors, they shouldnt even be allowed to practice medicine.i havent used that er in 2 years,and dont plan to. i go to beloit or the mercy mall urgent care.

I work at an Assisted Living Facility in Janesville. Some of our Residents go to Dean and Some to Mercy. I find that Dean's services are better than Mercy, don't know what I would do without their wonderful respectful absolutely great Valets. Mercy doesn't have that service. I understand that they work on a voluteer basis, but what they do is priceless.
After the clinic relocates, I'll have more driving to do but in the end it will be worth it.

LocalBoy you make me laugh, LOL. Him an his sources know all. He said the mall was closing, looks like thats still here.

JSM: When I say this, I'm not saying everything Janesville is bad. There are quite a few good things about Janesville. However, there is a fundamental difference between Janesville and most other places I've visited and or lived in the area. Janesville has a very clicky, self absorbed, and generally unpleasant population. The difference between Beloit and Janesville in terms of friendliness is night and day. Have you ever shopped in Woodman's in Janesville? People are rude, you rarely see a smile, and you typically can't get more than two words out of a cashier. It seems the population of Janesville only gets a personality when they have a few beers in them. Go to the Walmart in Beloit and you get hellos from people you don't even know and you can't get the cashiers to shut up. I have friends who used to work in Janesville and drove 30 min to work every day because they refused to live in the area or raise their kids here due to the population. Granted, there are pockets of good and bad in every city. However, as a whole I've found Janesville to be as previously described. As far as Mercy goes, most people they run into trouble with are people looking to get some drugs. If they don't give people the pain killers they want, people typically get upset. You would be extremely surprised how many people in the area are addicted to pain medication.

This is great news! Where is TheJoker? I am sure his inside sources told him this would never get off of the ground.

I hope that the new hospital and all will bring new jobs to Janesville!!! We need them!

usaret: It's wonderful to find the positivity with everything IF there is a positive. whats wrong?....the dr.s, some nurses, er, double billings, radiologist. All of that is whats wrong with it aside from a few good people working there that place is a mess. before you go saying how people are "complaining" how about you hear janesvilles stories... I'm sure if one story happened to your loved one you'd think differently. So what do you suggest people do to improve the situation? Heck I worry if a loved one gets foot surgery at mercy because they might hurt/kill them. I know a few people who needs stuff done and will NOT go to mercy. Thank god for this hospital!

Another positive for Janesville.
I have noticed that a few people complain about Mercy Hosp. Is it the Doctors, the nurses, the food, the bills, the rooms, the emergency rooms/urgent care,or administration, please clarify. One can always find something to complain about because it is easier to do. How about finding something positive or is that too hard? Please just stop making blanket comments that does nothing to improve the situation.

call1 took the words right out of my mouth. I agree with it all. Competition is what this city needs. I for one am very excited to see St. Mary's moving on this project

Might as well, because when I lose my employer provided insurance, and I go on Obamacare. I will be getting my $10,ooo worth. Trust me. That is until they start denying people health care. Oh wait, they already do that if you're on government aid...

Doseman95: Of course the patients surveyed are Medicare/Medicaid. It indicates that right on the site I posted. Does that make the sampling pool any less accurate or representative? The real problem with your argument, however, is that the same argument applies to all of the hospitals surveyed. So it still doesn't account for why Mercy is still significantly below all the other local hospitals in all of the patient satisfaction categories.

Second, actually, the fault does apply to Mercy in not releasing the data:

http://www.gazettextra.com/news/2008/apr...

Mercy chose not to release the data. The alleged "glitch" affected, again, all health care systems. All of the other local hospitals, nevertheless, reported their patient satisfaction info. It is really interesting that these low Mercy numbers are not even the first batch. I'd like to see the first batch that was withheld.

My whole point, though, is that I do think that Mercy has some great doctors and nurses. Why shouldn't free market theory apply to hospitals/health care? Why the protectionist attitude towards Mercy? Dean is building this health campus on its own dime, and hey, helping local contractors and subs in the process.

JSM - you need to tell the whole story about these survey results !!! These results are based on data collected from Medicare/Medicaid patients, which is just one part of the overall healthcare pie. If you look at the actual questions you'll also see that respondents had to choose an "absolute" response. There was no room for interpretation. As far as Mercy dragging their feet...your dead wrong. This survey has nothing to do with Mercy. They don't send it out or collect it, or report it. HHS/CMS ,aka your goverment, does all that.

Unidentified: There's no need to put better rated in quotes -- this survey wasn't funded by some special interest group. It is a US Govt. survey, about as neutral as you can get. Beloit is right next door to Janesville and Beloit Hospital scored 24% better. That is a dramatic difference in approval with a distance of 11 miles. So, no, location doesn't appear to be the primary factor.

This is the same survey that Mercy dragged its feet on releasing. Mercy said at the time that it didn't have enough information. The Gazette never followed up. You can draw your own conclusions.

Personally, I think the Mercy docs and staff are fine. I've personally had good experiences. I think that having another hospital will be beneficial as it will force the Mercy administration to make better use of their assets (those docs and staff). Competition will make everyone improve. Perhaps that was your point about Madison. I refuse to believe that Janesville is fundamentally blighted.

I wonder how much this decision to build is influenced by the health care debate going on in Washington? Wasn't it just a few days ago Dean said everything was still on hold, and now were tappin the cash reserves and green lighting the project. Very interesting, since the current Senate healthcare bill focus' on cutting costs by eliminating duplication of services, such as having exspensive diagnostic equipment like CT scanners and MRI machines. Sounds like someone mite be trying to get things in place before Big Government Healthcare arrives !!!

JSM: Your stats point out that most of these "Better rated" clinics and hospitals are primarily located in areas other than Janesville. On the other hand, Mercy has a bulk of it's business in Janesville. Is it the company or the location? If these Gazette blogs are any indication, I'd suggest it has more to do with location than company.

I'm glad to hear it. We now go to Dean due to change in employer/insurance & it's been a good experience so far. *Way* better than Beloit - what a disaster. (although I did have surgury in the Beloit hospital & it went well for my first hospital experience). We loved Mercy when our insurance allowed us to go there but unfortunately we no longer can go there. We loved our Drs. at Mercy.

OOps.. One more thing. I've never been treated by a nurse unkindly, so nothing my my previous comment was directed at them, or lab tech's. IMO.. Nurses, lab tech, X ray techs, etc, are the backbone of any hospital.

okay.. now I'm done.

Thank God! I can't wait till its up & in business! After hearing they were putting off the starting date for up to two years, I was a little concerned. Everyone I've talked to about the Dean St Mary's hospital coming.. are anxious to move their records there also... Even some Mercy Nurses I know are Welcoming the chance to switch hospitals. totellthetruth: the statement: "That's too bad. This will not fare well for Beloit or Edgerton." is just NOT truthful! I don't know anyone (& I know a lot of patients.. and several health care workers) who think Mercy hospital treats its Patients, as well as its employees like yesterdays garbage. Not to mention a few E.R. doctors, that have the bedside manner of Hitler, and their billing system is the worst, I've ever seen. Personally. I think, if anything.. this can do Only good for the area. Competition, NOT Monopoly, is what's made this country the Super Power it is. Mercy's Monopoly has given the pencil pushing suits ego's the size of Uranus. When this hospital opens, they'll have two choices.. Continue they're path of treating patients like cattle, & Employees like doormats. Thus ending Mercy's life as they know it. Or.. they can shape up, trying to redeem themselves with the patient population, & treat employees like they're a contributing factor in keeping Mercy alive & well for generations to come. Because without those employees, Mercy couldn't keep functioning. Enough said by me...

I apologize for those that feel that their quality of care was not up to their standards. As a Mercy RN, I strive to be the best nurse that I can be. I take the time to really listen and do a thorough assessment on my patients.

With that being said, Mercy does ALOT for Rock County. We help patients without insurance through the Community Care Funding. Both Mercy and Dean doctors and nurses volunteer at HealthNet, the free clinic here in town. Mercy Hospital provides labs and diagnostic testing to individuals who can not afford to have them done. Mercy eats the majority of that cost. Also, Mercy helps the homeless population by providing The House of Mercy.

Mercy Hospital has some of the BEST Neurosurgeons and orthopedic doctors in the area. I had a severe cervical spine injury and I had to have spinal surgery. My symptoms have resolved by 95%. I was able to go back to work on the ortho/neuro floor and volunteer at Healthnet. I also have four children to care for.

When St Mary's opens, I am sure they will benefit the community. Mercy will have their Level 2 trauma center operating soon. I am sure that we will reach full capacity on many occasions.

The doctors at both facilities are very skilled and knowledgeable about their specialities of practice. It has been a pleasure working with the Dean doctors. I have learned a great deal from all of my colleagues. Thank you to all who help make our community a safer, healthier enviornment.

PS BUCKLE UP WHILE DRIVING!!!

I'm still not convinced this will be a substantial net positive. The hospital estimated about 360 employees. Mercy has already seen a significant drop off in patients since many have lost insurance in the area over the last few years. In addition, some are moving out of the area. I'm guessing you'll see big cut backs at Mercy and other surrounding facilities when Dean opens. Moreover, their are very few decent paying jobs that are not medical related in a hospital. As a result, this still leaves a majority of the local unemployed without options. Although there may be some gains from this new facility, there is still a lot of work to be done. My hope, as mentioned in the article, is that this may trigger further investment in the area.

By way of comparison, and using the same tool, 71% of Beloit Hospital's patients would recommend it to others, 62% of Edgerton Hospital's patients, 76% of Meriter (Madison), 79% of St. Mary's (Madison) and 83% of UW Hospitals (Madison).

Great to have more options. The only other hospital has not-so-great patient ratings -- only 47% of patients would recommend it to others. Check out the US Dept. of Health & Human Svcs. survey (you have to enter Janesville, WI): http://www.hospitalcompare.hhs.gov/Hospi...

If anyone thinks that this will take much business away from the Mercy Megalo-mart Empire, they are sadly mistaken. This will hurt the already hurting Beloit Hospital and Edgerton Hospital systems. Mercy has too large of a market share to be significantly impacted. Those who already want to leave the Mercy system are doing so and going to Beloit, Edgerton, or Madison. Only time will tell. I personally have gotten some of the crappiest care from Dean doctors and was saved by a Mercy doctor. To each their own.

Right across the street from Denny's

A preview video is available on the other story:
http://www.gazettextra.com/weblogs/lates...

totellthetruth
Aug 29, 2008 at 11:21 a.m.
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This will be a very very bad thing for Janesville and Beloit.. Many hospital workers are already losing thier jobs...

totellthetruth, back in Aug you also said this is a very very bad thing. Can you elaborate on why you say that? Mercy CEO Javon Bea collected $14 million in 2002 (http://rocknetroots.blogspot.com/2007/04... he may REALLY think this is a bad idea but by most opinion, St Mary's coming to Janesville is going to attract income and jobs to the city.

lynda here is a map http://www.gazettextra.com/news/2008/aug...

southeast side of Janesville, by Racine st. and I-90 is where it'll be built at lynda.

I'am glad this is back on track, a very welcomed bit of news today. I can't wait for this project to be completed. and I prefer also Dean and St. Marys over the alternative choice or lack there of... ahem! I won't even type their name here. yuck! :D

Can someone refresh my memory and tell me exactly where this hospital will be built?
Thank you.

totellthetruth...this is will not fare well with Mercy either but I'm not going to add "that's too bad" like you said.

That's too bad. This will not fare well for Beloit or Edgerton.

Excellent! I had to leave Dean & go to Mercy because my employer practically dictated it. Now, I don't have any insurance of my own, but I'm under my husband's & his insurance prefers Dean. As do we.