Summer Internship: Mercy Medical Center – Des Moines and the Mercy Health Network

By: Laura Lindstrom

Mercy Medical Center - Des Moines is the largest hospital in the state of Iowa in terms of beds (827 licensed) and volume in many departments (such as the ED and maternity).  Mercy Health Network is a large, complex organization, and I have been fortunate enough to have opportunities to work or observe in many parts of it.  In addition to Mercy Main Campus, where I usually am, there is Mercy Franklin (a behavioral health hospital and clinic), Mercy West Lakes (the new suburban hospital in West Des Moines), and Mercy Centerville (a critical access hospital in southern Iowa).  I have also had projects in the Mercy Clinics, and with the Iowa Heart Center, a specialty practice affiliated with Mercy. My preceptor is Sam Schone, the Director of Innovation.  I typically sit in the Innovation Center with Sam, although I also have offices at Mercy Franklin and Iowa Heart Center. 

Some of my projects have included:

• Participating in the Behavioral Health Integration Team, which is moving practitioners from the soon-to-be-closed Mercy Franklin into primary care practices.  I am writing the protocol for this new model of care, in conjunction with psychiatrists and therapists.
• Working with service line leadership dyads to create scorecards that reflect key performance metrics in the areas of quality, people, stewardship, and growth.  Sam and I are helping to develop a regular process of executive review of the service lines
• Investigating the source of budget variances for a primary service line, and making recommendations on how to remedy the problem.
• Piloting the “Getting to Know You” project at Mercy Des Moines, bringing a nurse-created innovation from UCLA that was designed to improve patient experience to Mercy’s main campus.
• Investigating various types of nurse rounding software for potential use at Mercy’s main campus.
• Evaluating and making recommendations on many proposals that are submitted to Mercy’s Innovation Center by employees.

The experience at Mercy has been great.  Not only have I had the opportunity to learn about many aspects of how a large, complex hospital organization operates, but I have also learned a lot about how Mercy functions as a part of Catholic Health Initiatives, the parent organization that operates out of Colorado and has over 80 hospitals in 17 states.  Although I am not Catholic, the organization’s mission and values are inspiring.  Mercy works to serve even the neediest in the community, and the challenges of continuing this mission in the face of the financial realities of health reform are truly educational.

 

Des Moines is a lot of fun in the summer, with the Arts Festival and the State Fair.  Unfortunately, I  Most of what I have seen is tail lights on I-80.  But Sam and the Mercy team have been wonderful about allowing me create a work-life balance. I am commuting to and from Coralville (where I live with my husband) every day, and have not had time to have much Des Moines-based fun!