History

In 1831, Catherine McAuley founded the Sisters of Mercy in Dublin, Ireland, to follow Christ in his compassion for suffering people. Over the next 10 years, she and her Sisters established 14 foundations to serve the poor, the sick and the uneducated throughout Ireland and England.

After Catherine’s death in 1841, the Sisters of Mercy took their mission to America where they responded to others’ needs and suffering by founding hospitals, schools, orphanages, and establishing homes for women and girls at risk. In 1976, the Sisters created a health system, eventually called Mercy Health Services, to link and better support their hospitals.

In April 1911, the Sisters opened the doors of Mercy Hospital to "serve the sick and injured" in northern Michigan. The first hospital was built by logging barons as a tribute to the lumberman of Michigan.

The site of the first Grayling Mercy Hospital was North McClellan Street in Grayling. The AuSable Motel, across the street from St. Mary’s Catholic Church, now occupies the ground where the first hospital stood. It was a 30-bed facility which, according to Rasmus Hanson, a local lumberman and principal donor in the project, was to stand as a monument erected by the lumbermen of northern Michigan "to relieve the physical evils and suffering of humanity," as reported in the first Mercy Hospital annual report.

The first hospital stood for 48 years until 1959, when the facility on Michigan Avenue was constructed. The new building had accommodations for 48 patients. In 1970, the 40-bed, Long Term Care unit was added to the hospital. A $10 million dollar renovation project in 1980 brought the hospital to its present bed complement of 90 acute beds and 40 long term care beds.

In June of 1998, Mercy Health Services entered into a partnership with Munson Healthcare that gave the latter management responsibilities for Mercy Hospital Cadillac and Mercy Hospital Grayling. After six months of assessment, the partnership was solidified in January of 1999 and continues to yield benefits both at the Mercy sites and with Munson Healthcare. Although the Mercy sites partnered with Munson for management issues, they continued to be owned by Trinity Health.

In May of 2000, a consolidation between the Holy Cross Health System and Mercy Health Services, created a new health system, Trinity Health. The creation of Trinity Health is an advancement to ensure the continued success of these health systems. The name "Trinity Health" represents a community of persons building relationships to advance the healing mission of the Catholic Church.

Trinity Health is the third largest Catholic healthcare system in the U.S. It operates or is affiliated with 44 hospitals, 342 outpatient facilities, 31 long term care facilities, 28 home healthcare offices and 20 hospice programs. Trinity Health brings together more than 50,000 people, partners with nearly 10,000 physicians, and represents more than $200 million annually in community initiatives and care for the poor.

Mercy Hospital Grayling and its physician offices now serve a seven-county area: Crawford, Roscommon, Oscoda, Otsego, Kalkaska, Montmorency and Ogemaw.

Through all these changes, the words of Catherine McAuley remain true and encouraging: "Put your whole trust in God; he will never see you want for the means to do his work."

If you are a Mercy Hospital Grayling patient and have a compliment, concern, or complaint, please contact one of our Patient Liaisons.

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