Mercy Hospital host community roundtable event

Members of the Guthrie community took part in a roundtable discussion with Mercy Hospital Logan County Tuesday evening inside the Dominion House to discuss the hospital’s presence in the community.

Approximately 120 Guthrie residents attended the roundtable for discussion that was hosted by Mercy Health Systems of Oklahoma. The event began with a brief presentation about the past, present and future of Mercy.

Mercy Health purchased Logan Medical Center at a cost of $7.26 million dollars in August 2011 and began operations on October 1st. The hospital group has several locations throughout Oklahoma, Missouri, Kansas Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi and Arkansas.

Area residents gave their assessment of the current state of healthcare in Guthrie, and presented ideas for what needs to be done to improve healthcare in the future.

Roundtable participants were asked to consider and answer:

• When you think about your community, what are the most unique things that Mercy should be aware of?
• When you think about “good health” for this community in the future, what does that mean?
• What are the existing barriers to “good health,” and how can they be overcome?
• What should be our next action steps to achieve improved health in the community?

The roundtable is the first step in creating a dialogue with community members about local healthcare needs. With this input, Mercy will develop a roadmap for Mercy’s future work in Guthrie.