Mercy Health - Youngstown

09/19/2025

Honoring Korie Swanson of Mercy Health — St. Elizabeth Boardman Hospital for earning the DAISY Leader Award! Her unwavering compassion, positivity and dedication inspire everyone around her. Thank you, Korie, for always lifting spirits and caring deeply for your team and patients.

Her nominator shared, "Korie exemplifies Mercy Health's Values as well as the compassionate care and excellence of the DAISY Foundation. She uplifts the unit daily by remaining calm in all situations, handling challenging encounters with grace, positivity and laughter and by ensuring our patients are well cared for.

Korie takes care of the staff's souls. What do I mean by this? If you are having a rough time at home, Korie gets you candy to cheer you up. If your grandma, whom you loved so much, passes away, Korie ensures there is a lovely arrangement at the funeral home. Your children are near and dear to her, too, just as much as you are, and she babysits them on her day off so that you can go to work.

Korie has given compassionate care to her patients, too. She has so much patience and treats them as she would her own family — making them laugh and joking with them to lighten heavy situations, giving them a thorough bath while maintaining dignity, she is an advocate for all patients — ensuring what is right is what is being done. Korie doesn't say no to her patients or co-workers. She asks how she can help, how she can keep everyone calm and how she can be involved? She begs new staff and students to come to her with questions and never makes anyone feel less than for asking. 4S would never survive without her. She has been an employee for almost 17 years with Mercy and is so deserving of this award for her loyalty as well!"

09/18/2025

Struggling with kids and screen time? Dr. Benjamin Brocker from Youngstown shares expert tips on setting healthy limits and the impact they can have on your child’s well-being.

09/17/2025

Early detection saves lives! Claire’s story is a powerful reminder to keep up with regular screenings. Grateful for the donors who make early detection possible. 💖

09/16/2025

Join us in celebrating Jacqualine Patrick, the lead RN at Mercy Health — St. Joseph Warren Hospital, a recent DAISY Leader Award winner. Her compassion, leadership and dedication inspire the whole team to deliver the very best care every day.

Jacqualine's nominator shared, "I have been in the Intensive Care Unit for only 6 months and have worked at Mercy Health — St. Joseph's for 11 years in different leadership and nursing positions. One of the questions I have had over the years is, how does the ICU team work so united, so positive, so proud and like a team!? Well, after my short time, I have figured out the answer to my question, and that is the ICU team is led by some amazing leaders, with their leadership abilities truly exemplifying the DAISY Leader Award.

Jackie Patrick is one of these leaders! She is very knowledgeable, experienced, supportive and professional in her role as a charge nurse/nurse coordinator for the ICU. Any team member, new or experienced, can approach Jackie and ask a question or bring up a concern. It can be a simple question, like the number to another unit, or a complex question regarding a patient's procedure. Jackie makes you feel comfortable and supported.

Jackie maintains composure under high-pressure situations and is very direct and clear with her communication, but also is compassionate and understanding. She is always asking if you're 'ok', meaning, do you have any questions, is there anything she can help you with, is there anything bothering you and by doing so allows not only a nurse but a human being to feel appreciated and supported. The compassion she shows for other nurses and staff directly affects the care they provide their patients. If a nurse is happy where they work, it directly affects team unity, patient satisfaction and nurse well-being.

Jackie wants excellence in her team by encouraging participation in surveys, asking for volunteers, reminders for completing mandatory learning, scheduling educational classes, encouraging committee involvement, obtaining certification and coordinating unit organization. i.e., wiping down desks/phones/computers, making mailboxes for new staff, organizing drawers and cupboards, labeling supplies and equipment, etc. As a team member, when you see everything she does for her ICU Team, it motivates and inspires you to do more, be more and want more for not only you but the care you provide your patients, for your profession and for your employer. She leads by example and is truly a DAISY Leader!"

09/11/2025

Today, we pause and remember. May we honor the lives that were lost, and give thanks for the first responders and service members who served and saved.

09/09/2025

Mercy Health wants the Valley to know: prioritizing your health doesn’t have to mean spending big.

“Self-care should be accessible for everyone,” said Dr. Jenna Ferguson, a family medicine doctor at Mercy Health – Champion Primary Care. “The key is being consistent—whether that’s walking in Mill Creek Park, cooking at home, or just taking a few quiet minutes for yourself.”

Even on a tight budget, wellness is within reach. Here are some simple and cost-effective ways to invest in your well-being this month and beyond:

🏋️ Exercise for Free: Fitness doesn’t require fancy gym equipment or expensive classes. Bodyweight exercises – such as push-ups, squats, lunges and planks – are excellent for building strength and endurance. Whether you work out at home, in a park, or follow free online workout videos, staying active is completely doable on a budget. The key is consistency. Even just 15–20 minutes of movement a day can improve both physical and mental health.
🥦 Eat Smart, Spend Less: Eating well doesn’t mean spending a fortune. Home-cooked meals allow you to control ingredients, portion sizes and nutrition while saving money. Simple, nutritious meals like vegetable stir-fries, whole-grain salads and lentil soups can be both delicious and cost-effective. Meal prepping and batch cooking can also help stretch your grocery budget while ensuring you have healthy meals ready throughout the week.
🧘 Prioritize Mental Wellness: Simple habits like meditation, journaling and mindful breathing can be easy and effective ways to boost mental health. Each can help calm your nervous system, reduce anxiety and improve mental clarity. Staying connected with loved ones can also be key. Strong connections with friends and family provide emotional support, reduce stress and contribute to overall happiness.
🌳 Take Advantage of the Great Outdoors: Spending time outside, whether it’s a morning walk, a weekend hike, or simply enjoying a quiet moment in a local park, can improve mood, reduce stress and boost energy levels. Sunshine provides a natural dose of vitamin D, essential for bone health and immune function. Plus, walking, jogging, or stretching outdoors requires no gym membership – just a pair of comfortable shoes and a willingness to move.

“Wellness isn’t about following the latest influencer—it’s about small, smart choices that fit into your real life,” said Dr. Ferguson. “Taking a deep breath, stretching or spending time with loved ones can make a meaningful impact every day.”

Another important step on your way to wellness is a health care checkup with a primary care provider. Having these routine visits can lead to early diagnosis and treatments, shortening the length of illnesses and avoiding expensive visits to the emergency room, ultimately leading to savings in both money and your time away from work. Mercy Health’s robust network of primary, specialty and walk-in care practices are making it easy to get the care you deserve, when and where you need it.

Head to mercy.com and use our Find a Doctor tool to find a provider near you.

09/08/2025

For the fourth year in a row, Mercy Health — St. Elizabeth Youngstown Hospital, Mercy Health — St. Elizabeth Boardman Hospital and Mercy Health — St. Joseph Warren Hospital have been honored with the Partner for Change Award from Practice Greenhealth, the nation’s leading organization dedicated to environmental sustainability in health care.

The Partner for Change Award recognizes hospitals that demonstrate superior performance in sustainability, with broad programs covering waste minimization, energy efficiency, sustainable procurement and environmentally preferable practices. Mercy Health's repeated recognition reflects its ongoing investment in environmental responsibility and community well-being.

“At Mercy Health, we recognize that the health of our communities is inseparable from the health of our environment,” said James Armour, vice president, Mission, Mercy Health — Lorain and Youngstown. “By continually pursuing more sustainable operations, we’re reducing our environmental impact and creating a safer, healthier future for our patients, employees and neighbors.”

Mercy Health’s approach to sustainability includes reducing waste, minimizing the use of hazardous chemicals, conserving energy and water, promoting environmentally responsible purchasing and sourcing sustainable food and supplies. These efforts ensure that care delivery promotes long-term health for individuals and the planet alike.

Mercy Health has implemented a variety of green initiatives that contributed to this year’s recognition.

The Mercy Health – Youngstown Green Team holds regular quarterly meetings to advance sustainability initiatives and deepen environmental stewardship across the market.

In recent years, solar energy feasibility assessments were conducted at seven Bon Secours Mercy Health (BSMH) sites, including St. Elizabeth Youngstown and St. Elizabeth Boardman Hospitals. Go Sustainable Energy was engaged to evaluate system size, cost, and viability for future capital planning. St. Elizabeth Youngstown Hospital increased its recycling rate from 20% in 2022 to 24.1% in 2023, demonstrating measurable improvement in waste diversion practices. Additionally, the Bon Secours Mercy Health system previously eliminated the use of desflurane, an anesthetic gas that has a 2,540 times more potent atmospheric warming potential than carbon dioxide.

In the last year, each facility increased or maintained the number of reusable product types in clinical use, reducing waste and advancing greener practices in patient care. All three area hospitals were recognized by Practice Greenhealth for excellence in program fundamentals – each achieving “Transforming,” the highest stage of performance in three key areas: stakeholder engagement, organizational commitment and goal setting and strategy. Mercy Health – Youngstown also continues to deepen its community engagement through active participation in the Diocese of Youngstown’s Care for Creation Committee.

“In a shifting health care landscape, a focus on sustainability can help build resilience while better protecting the health of patients and the community,” said Gary Cohen, founder of Practice Greenhealth. “Mercy Health demonstrates the kind of leadership, innovation and performance that can drive the entire health sector toward more environmentally responsible practices.”

Mercy Health’s efforts are part of a broader system-wide commitment from Bon Secours Mercy Health, which was again honored with the System for Change Award. This award highlights BSMH’s leadership in setting and tracking system-wide sustainability goals.

The Partner for Change award is one of Practice Greenhealth’s Environmental Excellence Awards, which are given annually to honor health care’s achievements in sustainability.

09/05/2025

The Mercy Health — Joanie Abdu Comprehensive Breast Care Center (JACBCC) Mobile Mammography Unit will be traveling around northeast Ohio throughout the month of September. The JACBCC was created to deliver the most accurate prevention, early detection, diagnosis and support services in the region, and the Center’s mobile unit provides easier access to quality care to women all over the Mahoning Valley.

The state-of-the-art mobile unit uses the same high-quality technology and equipment to perform the mammogram that can be found in the JACBCC. It was also the first mobile unit in eastern Ohio to offer 3D mammography, which allows for a more thorough breast examination. The mobile unit moves from location to location to provide convenient mammography services and even includes patient-assisted compression for a more comfortable experience while in the unit.

Mercy Health – Youngstown announced the following mobile mammography screening dates at locations near you:

Friday, September 5
8 a.m. – 1:45 p.m.
Mercy Health - Howland Primary Care
1932 Niles-Cortland Rd., Howland

Monday, September 8
8:30 – 10:30 a.m.
Mercy Health – Salem Primary Care
564 E. 2nd St., Salem

11:45 a.m. – 1:45 p.m.
Mercy Health – Sebring Primary Care
605 E. Ohio Ave., Sebring

Tuesday, September 9
8:30 – 10:30 a.m.
Mercy Health - Cortland Primary Care
310 Windsor Dr., Cortland

11:45 a.m. - 1:45 p.m.
Mercy Health - Champion Primary Care
5901 Mahoning Ave., Champion

Wednesday, September 10
8 - 10:30 a.m.
Mercy Health - North Lima Primary Care
9471 Market St, North Lima.

11:45 a.m. – 1:45 p.m.
Mercy Health – Eisenhower Primary Care
7341 Eisenhower Dr., Boardman

Thursday, September 11
8 - 10:30 a.m.
Youngstown State University
235 W. Rayen Ave., Youngstown

11:45 a.m. – 1:45 p.m.
Mercy Health – Hubbard Primary Care
55 Hall Avenue, Hubbard

Monday, September 15
8 a.m. – 1:45 p.m.
Mercy Health - Howland Primary Care
1932 Niles-Cortland Rd, Howland

Tuesday, September 16
9 a.m.- 2 p.m.
St. Joe’s at the Mall
5555 Youngstown Warren Rd #202, Niles

Wednesday, September 17
8 - 10:30 a.m.
Mercy Health – Talsman Primary Care
61 Talsman Dr., Canfield

11:45 a.m. – 1:45 p.m.
Mercy Health – Trailwood Primary Care
900 Trailwood Dr., Boardman

Friday, September 19
8:30 a.m. – 1:45 p.m.
Mercy Health – East Palestine Primary Care at the East Palestine Library
309 N Market St. East Palestine

Tuesday, September 23
8 a.m. – 1:45 p.m.
Mercy Health - Howland Primary Care
1932 Niles-Cortland Rd, Howland

Wednesday, September 24
8 a.m. – 1:45 p.m.
Trumbull County Childrens Services
2282 Reeves Rd., NE, Warren

Thursday, September 25
8 a.m. – 1:45 p.m.
Mercy Health – Vienna Primary Care
341 Youngstown-Kingsville Rd., Vienna

Friday, September 26
8 a.m. – 1:45 p.m.
Mercy Health – Canfield Primary Care
3660 Stutz Dr., Canfield

Saturday, September 27
10 a.m. – 2 p.m.
War Against Breast Cancer
Trumbull County Fairgrounds
899 Everett Hull Rd., Cortland

Monday, September 29
8 a.m. – 1:45 p.m.
Mercy Health – Stutz Primary Care
3685 Stutz Dr., Canfield

Talk with your doctor about when you should have a screening mammogram. Screening mammograms are usually a covered benefit with most insurance carriers and do not require a physician order. Financial assistance for mobile screenings is also available.

Certified radiologists read all mammograms, and because a second look can mean a second chance, we double-check all mammograms with a computer-aided detection system that detects more breast cancer than mammography alone. Your physician will receive a copy of the results.

For more information or to schedule your mammogram, call 330-480-2654.

09/04/2025

Let's be encouraged to chase our dreams and turn those dreams into action so that the future we hope for might one day become reality.

At Mercy Health, our Mission extends compassionate care beyond the walls of our hospitals and medical facilities. We are committed to providing good help to those in need no matter the time or the place. We’d like to share encouraging and inspiring quotes on our social media channels. It is our hope that these "Mission Moments" will provide you with encouragement no matter where you are in life.

08/27/2025

Making a difference close to home—thanks to Mercy Health Foundation donor support, veterans like Rick can now access health and dental care in Youngstown without the long trip. Serving those who have served us! 🦷🩺

Rick Stewart dedicated years of his life serving in the U.S. Army and U.S. Army reserves. Like many veterans, he relies on the VA for his health care. Thanks to donor gifts, he can also get access to dental care close to home.

Rick recently discovered the Mercy Health Kikel Dental Clinic. The mobile dental office regularly visits VA clinics in Mahoning and Trumbull counties. Thanks to donor generosity, veterans can schedule health and dental appointments on the same day at the same location.

“Going to Cleveland was my only option,” Rick says. “To see a dentist, I’d have to take a day off from work. I’d either drive up or get on the shuttle that goes up early in the morning. That’s a whole day right there by the time you come back to town. I’m so glad I now have an option here in Youngstown.”

Learn how you can help keep health care in your community by visiting https://bit.ly/44c8pWF

08/15/2025

In this “Mission Moment,” we’re encouraged to keep going! Let us stay determined even when obstacles often encourage us to turn back. Only those who are willing to confront the obstacles and barriers before them can accomplish important things for others.

At Mercy Health, our Mission extends compassionate care beyond the walls of our hospitals and medical facilities. We are committed to providing good help to those in need no matter the time or the place. We’d like to share encouraging and inspiring quotes on our social media channels. It is our hope that these "Mission Moments" will provide you with encouragement no matter where you are in life.

08/12/2025

As part of the health system’s ongoing commitment to expanding access to high-quality, compassionate health care across the Mahoning Valley, Mercy Health is excited to announce the groundbreaking of a freestanding emergency department and outpatient imaging center in Champion Township.

The Mercy Health — Champion Emergency Center will be located at 507 Educational Hwy, Warren, OH 44483, and offers 24/7 emergency care, outpatient imaging and full laboratory and phlebotomy services. This will bring these critical services closer to where patients live and work, making care more accessible and convenient.

“We remain deeply committed to expanding access to high-quality, compassionate care across the Mahoning Valley,” said Dr. John Luellen, state president, Ohio. “This new facility reflects our vision to make health care easier and enhance health care access through new points of care across the region. By expanding emergency and outpatient services in Trumbull County, we’re taking another meaningful step toward bringing essential services closer to home and making it easier for patients to get the care they need.”

The freestanding emergency department will be equipped with state-of-the-art technology and staffed by board-certified emergency medicine providers. Patients will have access to the same level of care as Mercy Health’s hospital-based emergency rooms, with a focus on rapid diagnosis and treatment.

This investment also reflects Mercy Health’s continued effort to partner with and serve the Trumbull County community.

To learn more, visit www.mercy.com