Mercy Hospital Joplin dedicates new C-section suite on fifth floor

Kimberly Barker, The Joplin Globe, Mo.
·3 min read

Dec. 30—Mercy Hospital Joplin has added a new cesarean section suite on its labor and delivery floor thanks to a gift from the Mercy Health Foundation and the Michael A., Mary Louise & Christine L. Glauber Foundation.

The new suite, which marks Mercy Joplin's second C-section unit, was blessed and dedicated during a ceremony on Thursday. The new suite is located on the fifth floor near the labor and delivery unit. The Glauber family were the kickoff donors for the project, giving $125,000, with the remaining funds provided by the Mercy Health Foundation.

Elizabeth Barlet, an obstetrician-gynecologist at Mercy Clinic Women's Health, serves as the medical director of labor and delivery at Mercy Joplin and the section chair for the department of women's health. She said they saw a need for a second C-section suite in the community after seeing a rapid growth in births over the past several years.

"It will give us the ability of an immediately open operating room for women who need an unexpected C-section or an emergency delivery," she said. "That, I think, is helpful for them and alleviates a little bit of the anxiety that no doubt goes with an emergency delivery. It allows them to stay here on this floor with the rest of their family."

Barlet said the C-section suite features upgraded technology like an anesthesia machine, which is used to administer inhalation anesthesia to patients.

"The best and most memorable delivery for parents is always our goal, and to us, a big part of that is a safe delivery," she said. "Being up-to-date on our equipment and having state-of-the-art options available helps us achieve that goal."

When Mercy Joplin began talking about the need for a second C-section room, Barlet said the Mercy Health Foundation agreed to partner on the project to bring it forward. The Glauber family became involved after that in an effort to provide state-of-the-art care to moms and babies in the area.

Barlet said the new suite adds another layer of safety and comfort for babies and mothers, whether it's their first delivery or one of many. The project has been in the works for approximately nine months to a year.

"As obstetricians, we wished, hoped and prayed for this day, and sometimes thought it would never come," she said. "I see it as growing the operating room was a lot like growing a baby — about nine months, lots of anticipation and some anxiety, and now the big day is here. We're very excited."

Chris Glauber, board president of Mercy Joplin, said she visited Ireland with her parents, Michael and Mary Louise, in 2019. While there, they got to learn more about Catherine McAuley, who was the founder of the House of Mercy and one of the three first Sisters of Mercy in Dublin. Sisters of Mercy helped start thousands of global ministries, including Mercy in Joplin.

"We got to see firsthand the places that she lived and everything she helped build," she said. "The extent of the work and generosity that she portrayed, it really resonated with my parents. I reached out to Miranda Lewis, vice president of Mercy Health Foundation, and told her that we were interested in offering bigger dollars, and she told me about the proposed projects. It's really exciting that Miranda Lewis and Kim Shriver, director of development at Mercy Health Foundation, were able to pull this together. It was a huge team effort."