By The Physician
Why choose Mercy Care for your patient’s care? Mercy is “mission driven”. Mercy endeavors to be the premier provider of expert, compassionate care for people who are experiencing life threatening or chronic illness through well-defined, established programs in physical, spiritual, and emotional care. Because Mercy affirms life, we will excel at service and innovation that will ensure the highest quality care for your patient!
Mercy Care is Not-for-Profit
We are a non-profit agency committed to comforting those suffering with a chronic or terminal illness. Care is provided in the patient’s “home of choice” whether it’s in the home, nursing home, assisted living facility, or hospital. Unlike some for-profit hospices, Mercy Care serves any family regardless of their ability to pay.
CHAP Accredited
Mercy Care is one of only a handful of hospice providers in South Carolina to have gained the coveted Community Health Accreditation Program, Inc. credential, according to CHAP’s registry of accredited agencies. While Mercy Care has operated under accreditation from JCAHO (formerly the Joint Commission of Accreditation of Health Care Organizations) for several years, that organization is hospital focused. By contrast, CHAP addresses itself specifically to home-health and hospice providers.
Mercy Care is also a proud member of the National Hospice & Palliative Care Organization.
Our services…
We have been providing excellence in hospice care for the terminally ill since 1981. We have certified hospice nurses; 24-hour/7-days a week on-call nursing; experienced medical social workers and chaplains to offer counseling and spiritual support; and volunteer support for the patient and caregivers.
Dr. Charles Sasser, our Medical Director, is a former President of the National Academy of Hospice Care Physicians. Dr. Charles Sasser has been practicing Internal Medicine for more than 30 years and this field of expertise continues to bring him great personal satisfaction.
Dr. Beth Carosi, our Assistant Medical Director, graduated from the Texas College Of Osteopathic Medicine in 1996 and has been in the profession for 11 years. Before coming to Mercy Care, she had her own practice, Indigo Beach Medical. Patients from her practice have described her as “absolutely wonderful and one of the best and most caring doctors that I have ever met” and “professional, caring, listens, attentive, thorough! Excellent bedside manner!”
We care for the family and child(ren) as well…
Mercy Care was the first in the area to offer a children’s program for the area. We are the only hospice in the county providing extensive children’s grief support for children and teens who have experienced a loss. We offer one-on-one counseling, support groups in the public schools, and one-day camps for children, such as our Camp Happy Hearts.
Patients in nursing homes & assisted living facilities…
Mercy Care is affiliated and works closely with the following skilled nursing facilities: Grand Strand Healthcare, Kingston Nursing Center, Loris Extended Care, Myrtle Beach Manor, National Healthcare, and Conway Manor. Services can also be provided to patients who live in an assisted living facility.
Patients in the hospital…
Mercy Care has contracts with the following hospitals. If a patient is a participant in the Medicare or Medicaid Hospice Benefit, they must be in one of these contracted facilities: Conway Medical Center, Loris Healthcare System, Grand Strand Regional Hospital Medical Center, Marion Regional Healthcare System, Georgetown Hospital, or Waccamaw Community Hospital.
The next step…
If you are the patient’s primary attending physician and the patient agrees to be referred to us, please call the Referral Coordinator at 843-347-5500 or email nhughes@mercyhospice.org to set up a time for a presentation of our services to the patient and caregiver.
We will also need you, as the primary attending physician, to fax us the orders, demographic information, insurance information (if any), history and physical, and your most recent notes on the patient. Of course, there is no charge for the presentation and no obligation on the patient or caregiver’s part to begin hospice services. All medical records received are handled with the utmost privacy and discretion.
From one healthcare professional to another…
“The Mercy Care team is compassionate, caring, professional, and knowledgeable. Hospice and Palliative care are difficult fields and only committed and dedicated persons can provide such care. Horry County is blessed to have such a wonderful team! Whenever I requested Mercy’s help for a terminal cancer patient, I was sure that my patient would be in caring and safe hands during the most important phase of their life.”
~ Dr. Neeraj Mahajan, formerly with Coastal Cancer Center
Conway, SC