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The Mary Catherine Bunting Center at Mercy to open in 2010

Mercy Medical Center Receives Largest Gift in Hospital's History from Mary Catherine Bunting

Gift Helps Pave Way for Mercy's New $400 Million Replacement Facility

The Mary Catherine Bunting Center at Mercy Set to Open in 2010

BALTIMORE, MD — Thomas R. Mullen, Mercy Health Services President and CEO, on behalf of the Sisters of Mercy and the Mercy Board of Trustees, today announced that Mercy has received the largest philanthropic gift in the hospital's 133-year history and will name its new $400 million, 18-story replacement hospital facility to honor the donor.

Slated to open in 2010, the new Mary Catherine Bunting Center at Mercy will be an 18-story, 688,000 square foot hospital facility located in the 300 block of St. Paul Place, adjacent to Mercy's current campus. The new facility will offer spacious, beautifully appointed private rooms for all patients; convenient front door drop-off; an expansive 2-story atrium lobby; three eco-friendly rooftop meditation gardens and operating rooms equipped with advanced technology including robotics. The new facility will be connected by bridge and tunnel to Mercy’s existing facilities.

Thomas R. Mullen, Mercy Health Services/Mercy Medical Center President and CEO; Sr. Helen Amos, RSM, Executive Chair, Mercy Board of Trustees, and Mary Catherine Bunting stand before a large scale model of the new medical facility that will bear Ms. Bunting's name.

According to Mullen, Mary Catherine Bunting has made one of the largest private financial gifts ever to a community teaching hospital. She is the granddaughter of Dr. Avery Bunting who founded the first Noxzema Chemical Company.  Mercy is respecting Mary Catherine Bunting’s request that the amount of the gift not be disclosed.

"Mercy is building this extraordinary new facility because they care about the people of Baltimore—everyone, people from all walks of life," said Mary Catherine Bunting. "To know that compassionate care and the mission of the Sisters of Mercy will remain in downtown Baltimore is an investment we all should embrace. I believe that if we each do our part, the Sisters' healing ministry will be possible on this site for a very long time."

According to Sister Helen Amos, RSM, Executive Chair of the Mercy Board of Trustees, "Mary Catherine has been a long-time, beloved friend of the Sisters of Mercy. She first became part of the Mercy family at age 16 as a junior volunteer and graduated from the Mercy Hospital School of Nursing in 1958.” Sister Helen continued, “Mary Catherine spent the majority of her nursing career at our community health center in South Baltimore and retired in 1996 as a certified nurse practitioner. Throughout her life, Mary Catherine has embodied the mission of the Sisters of Mercy, serving as caregiver, advocate, and champion on behalf of women, children and particularly the underserved.”

Mullen echoed his admiration saying "Mary Catherine Bunting is one of the great women of our community. She has magnanimously given Mercy a transformational gift to ensure that people who come to us for their care will be welcomed into a state-of-the-art hospital recognized for physician expertise, clinical excellence, leading-edge technology and compassionate care for all."

Mullen added, "We are proud to have the name of such an honorable, respected and caring woman grace our new hospital. The legacy she has given is one of tremendous generosity and, more than that, it's a shining testament to the care and compassion found within Mercy Medical Center."

The $400 million Mary Catherine Bunting Center at Mercy will be financed with cash from hospital operations, the sale of tax exempt bonds and a capital campaign.

Mercy's most recent capital campaign was completed in 2004 shortly after the opening of The Harry and Jeanette Weinberg Center at Mercy.  The initial goal for that campaign was $20 million; however, Mercy raised over $43 million, sparked by gifts of $10 million from The Harry and Jeanette Weinberg Foundation and a cornerstone gift from Mary Catherine Bunting to establish an endowment for the hospital's Pastoral Care Department.

Mercy's solid financial performance and double-digit volume growth for more than a decade has positioned the hospital to construct its new signature building. Site preparation for the new facility is already underway on the downtown campus location. Earlier in October, Mercy demolished its "old" Pleasant Street Garage, which was constructed in the 1970s, to make way for the footprint of The Mary Catherine Bunting Center at Mercy. A groundbreaking ceremony is being planned for June 2008.