Hackley Hospital / Mercy General Hospital in Muskegon, Michigan Proposed Merger

The city of Muskegon, Michigan has been struggling economically for years and has failed to recover. Its neighborhoods are suffering and its businesses are laying off and closing their doors at an alarming rate. It may have started with the demise of its downtown. After the Muskegon Mall closed its other small businesses went under and the area has been a ghost town ever since. The economic bad luck of Muskegon has affected businesses such as Dana Corporation and the Sappi paper mill. One of the more major affects the state of the economy has had is on the healthcare industry. At one point Muskegon had three hospitals until Muskegon General merged with Mercy Hospital. Now Hackley Hospital is financially strapped and talking to Mercy General Hospital about a possible merger. The economic downturn and the low income makeup of its residents have caused Muskegon to force another merger between its two remaining hospitals.

Hackley Hospital was established by Charles Hackley in 1908 and is a 181 bed facility located off of Laketon Ave. Mercy General Hospital is a 259 bed facility located on Sherman Boulevard. Both hospitals provide the usual services such as emergency care, surgery, and radiological services. It was announced on October 9, 2007 that the two hospitals have filed paperwork with the government to look at a possible merger. The two hospitals have begun the process of due diligence where each entity looks at the financial and legal standings of the other entity. Each hospital's attorneys have gotten together to form the first draft of a merger agreement. The government has thirty days to respond to the filing and the process continues from there.