Mercy and Children's Mercy Announce New Details of Partnership and Expanded Pediatric Care at Community Celebration
KANSAS CITY, MO, UNITED STATES, August 14, 2025 /EINPresswire.com/ -- Children’s Mercy and Mercy Springfield Communities are excited to announce new details regarding their transformative partnership that will bring expanded pediatric services and specialized care to families across southwest Missouri. This collaboration is being recognized by a community event on the Mercy Hospital Springfield campus welcoming pediatric patients and their families, along with caregivers and community members.
As part of the celebration, Children’s Mercy–a nationally recognized independent pediatric health system–is announcing it will manage Mercy Springfield’s hospital-based and specialized pediatric care starting this November. The news comes as Children’s Mercy and Mercy have now signed a joint operating agreement. As Children’s Mercy brings its pediatric expertise to Springfield, it will create a seamless pediatric system of care that strengthens coordination between providers, supports community clinicians and improves access so kids can get the specialized care they need, when they need it, close to home.
“At Children’s Mercy, we are built for kids—our entire child-focused approach is tailored to specifically meet the unique medical, emotional and developmental needs of children, ensuring young patients receive the most compassionate and effective pediatric care possible,” said Amy Fallon, MPH, PhD, President of Regional Operations, Children’s Mercy. “This partnership with Mercy reflects our shared dedication to putting children first and we’re excited to bring our pediatric expertise to Springfield and elevate the care for children and their families.”
Children’s Mercy specialists are already providing care in Springfield with expanded ambulatory services in cardiology and EEG support for neurology. Under the agreement, Children’s Mercy will provide management for a wide range of hospital-based pediatric services, including:
Pediatric Inpatient Care
Pediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU)
Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU)
Pediatric Surgery
Pediatric Emergency Department (Peds ED)
Pediatric Operating Procedures (POPs)
Child Life Services
Pediatric Social Work
Pediatric Respiratory Therapy
Pediatric Physical and Occupational Therapy
The collaboration between Mercy and Children’s Mercy will help transform the lives of families and reduce the need to travel long distances for care. It will also provide quicker access to specialists and comfort to patient families who will now know that world-class pediatric care is right in their own community.
Consider Little Franklin (Frankie) who burst onto the scene at just 25 weeks, 3 days gestation. Weighing just 1.5-pounds at birth, Frankie represents a true fighter. In spite of many setbacks, Frankie has overcome each obstacle with the help of his fiercely dedicated family and his medical care teams in Kansas City and Springfield. After more than 200 days in the NICU, where he charmed the nurses into letting him stay up late for extra snuggles, Frankie is now thriving at home with his family in Springfield. The family visits multiple Children's Mercy clinics for Frankie’s follow-up care, and they’re grateful to be able to access several of these teams through our satellite clinics in Springfield and via telemedicine when appropriate. “We’re excited for the growing options for us to get Frankie’s care closer to home,” says mom, Stevie Badger.
This collaboration brings together Mercy’s deep community roots and Children’s Mercy’s nationally ranked pediatric expertise.
Mercy currently cares for the majority of pediatric patients in southwest Missouri and Children’s Mercy is consistently ranked among America’s Best Children’s Hospitals by U.S. News & World Report and is home to the Children’s Mercy Research Institute, a national leader in pediatric translational research.
“I feel like this is a dream come true,” said Dr. John Burson, Regional Service Line Chair for Women and Children, and a pediatrician at Mercy Springfield Communities. “We’ve been dreaming of ways to enhance pediatric care in this region for 10 years, and even though we already have a strong pediatric hospital in Springfield, we know that kids often must leave town when they need complex care that requires a specialist. By teaming up with Children’s Mercy and bringing their specialists to our campus, we’ll be able to care for more complex needs here at home. As a pediatrician myself, this feels like a huge win for kids in this community.”
To celebrate this milestone, Children’s Mercy and Mercy Springfield are hosting a special event to recognize the teams who helped bring this vision to life, along with the patients this partnership will impact and benefit the most.
About Children’s Mercy
Founded in 1897, Children’s Mercy is a leading independent children’s health organization dedicated to holistic care, translational research, educating caregivers and breakthrough innovation to create a world of wellbeing for all children. With not-for-profit hospitals in Missouri and Kansas, and numerous specialty clinics in both states, Children’s Mercy provides the highest level of care for children. U.S. News & World Report has repeatedly ranked Children’s Mercy as one of “America's Best Children's Hospitals.” Children’s Mercy is also one of only two pediatric hospitals in the U.S. to achieve Magnet nursing designation six consecutive times for excellence in nursing. More than 800 pediatric specialists, researchers and faculty are actively involved in clinical care, pediatric research and education of the next generation of pediatric specialists. Thanks to generous philanthropic and volunteer support, Children’s Mercy provides hope, comfort and the prospect of brighter tomorrows to every child who passes through its doors.
About Mercy
Mercy, one of the 15 largest U.S. health systems and named the top large system in the U.S. for excellent patient experience by NRC Health, serves millions annually with nationally recognized care and one of the nation’s largest and highest performing Accountable Care Organizations in quality and cost. Mercy is a highly integrated, multi-state health care system including 50 acute care and specialty (heart, children’s, orthopedic and rehab) hospitals, convenient and urgent care locations, imaging centers and pharmacies. Mercy has over 1,000 physician practice locations and outpatient facilities, more than 5,000 physicians and advanced practitioners and more than 50,000 co-workers serving patients and families across Arkansas, Illinois, Kansas, Missouri and Oklahoma. Mercy also has clinics, outpatient services and and outreach ministries in Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas. In fiscal year 2024 alone, Mercy provided nearly half a billion dollars of free care and other community benefits.
As part of the celebration, Children’s Mercy–a nationally recognized independent pediatric health system–is announcing it will manage Mercy Springfield’s hospital-based and specialized pediatric care starting this November. The news comes as Children’s Mercy and Mercy have now signed a joint operating agreement. As Children’s Mercy brings its pediatric expertise to Springfield, it will create a seamless pediatric system of care that strengthens coordination between providers, supports community clinicians and improves access so kids can get the specialized care they need, when they need it, close to home.
“At Children’s Mercy, we are built for kids—our entire child-focused approach is tailored to specifically meet the unique medical, emotional and developmental needs of children, ensuring young patients receive the most compassionate and effective pediatric care possible,” said Amy Fallon, MPH, PhD, President of Regional Operations, Children’s Mercy. “This partnership with Mercy reflects our shared dedication to putting children first and we’re excited to bring our pediatric expertise to Springfield and elevate the care for children and their families.”
Children’s Mercy specialists are already providing care in Springfield with expanded ambulatory services in cardiology and EEG support for neurology. Under the agreement, Children’s Mercy will provide management for a wide range of hospital-based pediatric services, including:
Pediatric Inpatient Care
Pediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU)
Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU)
Pediatric Surgery
Pediatric Emergency Department (Peds ED)
Pediatric Operating Procedures (POPs)
Child Life Services
Pediatric Social Work
Pediatric Respiratory Therapy
Pediatric Physical and Occupational Therapy
The collaboration between Mercy and Children’s Mercy will help transform the lives of families and reduce the need to travel long distances for care. It will also provide quicker access to specialists and comfort to patient families who will now know that world-class pediatric care is right in their own community.
Consider Little Franklin (Frankie) who burst onto the scene at just 25 weeks, 3 days gestation. Weighing just 1.5-pounds at birth, Frankie represents a true fighter. In spite of many setbacks, Frankie has overcome each obstacle with the help of his fiercely dedicated family and his medical care teams in Kansas City and Springfield. After more than 200 days in the NICU, where he charmed the nurses into letting him stay up late for extra snuggles, Frankie is now thriving at home with his family in Springfield. The family visits multiple Children's Mercy clinics for Frankie’s follow-up care, and they’re grateful to be able to access several of these teams through our satellite clinics in Springfield and via telemedicine when appropriate. “We’re excited for the growing options for us to get Frankie’s care closer to home,” says mom, Stevie Badger.
This collaboration brings together Mercy’s deep community roots and Children’s Mercy’s nationally ranked pediatric expertise.
Mercy currently cares for the majority of pediatric patients in southwest Missouri and Children’s Mercy is consistently ranked among America’s Best Children’s Hospitals by U.S. News & World Report and is home to the Children’s Mercy Research Institute, a national leader in pediatric translational research.
“I feel like this is a dream come true,” said Dr. John Burson, Regional Service Line Chair for Women and Children, and a pediatrician at Mercy Springfield Communities. “We’ve been dreaming of ways to enhance pediatric care in this region for 10 years, and even though we already have a strong pediatric hospital in Springfield, we know that kids often must leave town when they need complex care that requires a specialist. By teaming up with Children’s Mercy and bringing their specialists to our campus, we’ll be able to care for more complex needs here at home. As a pediatrician myself, this feels like a huge win for kids in this community.”
To celebrate this milestone, Children’s Mercy and Mercy Springfield are hosting a special event to recognize the teams who helped bring this vision to life, along with the patients this partnership will impact and benefit the most.
About Children’s Mercy
Founded in 1897, Children’s Mercy is a leading independent children’s health organization dedicated to holistic care, translational research, educating caregivers and breakthrough innovation to create a world of wellbeing for all children. With not-for-profit hospitals in Missouri and Kansas, and numerous specialty clinics in both states, Children’s Mercy provides the highest level of care for children. U.S. News & World Report has repeatedly ranked Children’s Mercy as one of “America's Best Children's Hospitals.” Children’s Mercy is also one of only two pediatric hospitals in the U.S. to achieve Magnet nursing designation six consecutive times for excellence in nursing. More than 800 pediatric specialists, researchers and faculty are actively involved in clinical care, pediatric research and education of the next generation of pediatric specialists. Thanks to generous philanthropic and volunteer support, Children’s Mercy provides hope, comfort and the prospect of brighter tomorrows to every child who passes through its doors.
About Mercy
Mercy, one of the 15 largest U.S. health systems and named the top large system in the U.S. for excellent patient experience by NRC Health, serves millions annually with nationally recognized care and one of the nation’s largest and highest performing Accountable Care Organizations in quality and cost. Mercy is a highly integrated, multi-state health care system including 50 acute care and specialty (heart, children’s, orthopedic and rehab) hospitals, convenient and urgent care locations, imaging centers and pharmacies. Mercy has over 1,000 physician practice locations and outpatient facilities, more than 5,000 physicians and advanced practitioners and more than 50,000 co-workers serving patients and families across Arkansas, Illinois, Kansas, Missouri and Oklahoma. Mercy also has clinics, outpatient services and and outreach ministries in Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas. In fiscal year 2024 alone, Mercy provided nearly half a billion dollars of free care and other community benefits.
Lisa Augustine
Children's Mercy
newsroom@cmh.edu
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