Mercy Iowa City Revenue and Competitors

The hospital was founded by four Sisters of Mercy who traveled from Davenport, Iowa, by train. They carried as many furnishings and medical supplies as they could manage. The Sisters came at the invitation of Dr. W.F. Peck, dean of the young Medical School of the State University of Iowa. Dr. Peck had worked with the Sisters of Mercy to establish a hospital in Davenport and hoped the Sisters would open another in Iowa City. Such a hospital would provide a facility where medical students could gain clinical experience by working with patients and where the Sisters could pursue their mission of caring for the poor and sick. When they arrived at the Iowa City train station, a kindly local farmer offered them a ride in his wagon to their destination-Mechanics Academy, on the site where the University of Iowa building, Seashore Hall, stands today. The Sisters were greeted by Dr. Peck and set to work immediately, cleaning and refurbishing the abandoned building. Only three weeks later, on September 27, 1873, the new Mercy Hospital admitted its first patient—a gentleman with tuberculosis. In 1885 the Sisters purchased a property called the Dostal House, located about two blocks northeast of the Mechanics Academy building, and moved into it early the next year. The remodeled building offered space for more patients and included a carriage house that was turned into a surgery amphitheater. Mercy Iowa City continues on this site today