Mercy Hospital is a local hospital in Port Charles, New York, which serves as a vital healthcare facility for patients without health insurance.
Mercy Hospital continues to be referenced occasionally as an alternative healthcare facility for patients who, for various reasons, cannot receive treatment at GH.
Despite this noble service, it suffers from a less favorable reputation compared to General Hospital, with some characters dubbing the staff as "The butchers at Mercy." This portrayal highlights the stark contrast in healthcare quality within the narrative. Notably, Mercy Hospital rose to prominence when it became the primary care center after General Hospital was damaged by fire in February 2009, until its restoration in April of the same year.
Storylines[]
In November 1964, Dr. Steve Hardy asks Nurse Audrey March if she would like to work at Mercy Hospital rather than go back to General Hospital as he knows Mercy's chief of internal medicine.
In 1996, General Hospital's beloved Chief of Staff, Steve Hardy, succumbed to a fatal heart attack amidst the institution's financial struggles. His untimely death shook the community and nearly resulted in a takeover by the board at Mercy. In a twist of fate, Stefan Cassadine stepped in to purchase General Hospital, preventing the hostile takeover.
In 1997, Carly Spencer discovered she was pregnant with Michael Corinthos, the son of A.J. Quartermaine. Anticipating that Dr. Tony Jones and A.J. would assert their claims of paternity, she deceitfully asserted that the child was fathered by Jason Morgan. To prevent this information from reaching Tony, she sought the assistance of her former nursing school colleague and Mercy Hospital staff member, Lorraine Miller, to perform an ultrasound at their facility rather than at General Hospital. Carly aimed to persuade A.J. that their timeline of intimacy did not align, and prior to the appointment, she approached Lorraine to arrange the ultrasound; however, Lorraine demanded payment, which Carly agreed to provide. Acting in her capacity as the nurse, Lorraine conducted the ultrasound, which indicated the gestational age of Carly's pregnancy, contradicting the timeline of her encounter with A.J. In the ensuing months, Lorraine threatened to reveal Carly's intentions to Bobbie Spencer or A.J. whenever Carly claimed to be low on funds.
In 2002, Dr. Rick Webber came back to Port Charles as the front man for a medical healthcare group looking to acquire General Hospital, known as Kappa Healthcare. Dr. Alan Quartermaine pointed out that the company had a reputation for prioritizing profits over medical care. Rick countered this by mentioning that his company already managed Mercy Hospital.
In January 2008, General Hospital's new Chief-of-Staff, Dr. Russell Ford, enforces a policy redirecting patients without adequate insurance to Mercy Hospital. When Joe Smith and his pregnant wife are denied treatment at GH by Dr. Ford, Joe returns with a fake bomb strapped to himself, taking the Emergency Room hostage. He demands medical care for his wife.
In February 2009, following a fire that devastated General Hospital, Mercy Hospital stepped up to become the primary healthcare center in the city. During this critical period, several doctors and nurses who were originally employed at GH temporarily worked at Mercy while General Hospital underwent reconstruction. Among them were Doctors Patrick Drake, Robin Scorpio-Drake and Matt Hunter, as well as nurses Epiphany Johnson and Elizabeth Webber. Notably, characters Claudia Zacchara-Corinthos and Carly Spencer also made multiple visits to Mercy during their pregnancies. Additionally, Michael Corinthos spent some time at Mercy while in a coma, as his parents grappled with the decision of whether to attempt an experimental procedure to wake him up.
When General Hospital temporarily closed in 2016, Mercy became once again became the prominent hospital for a month. Sam McCall made a visit here during her pregnancy.
In September 2020, following Cyrus Renault's takeover of GH and subsequent staffing modifications, Nurse Elizabeth Baldwin recommended that Michael Corinthos contemplate transferring his son, Wiley Corinthos, to Mercy, as the cardiac unit there was reportedly on the 'up and up'.
In February 2021, fearing she has Huntington's Disease and wanting to keep it quiet, Dr. Britt Westbourne looks into possible research and treatment at Mercy.
In May 2021, Sasha Gilmore temporarily transferred to Mercy's OB/GYN to avoid Cyrus.
