Founded by a daring and courageous woman, Catherine McAuley, in Dublin in 1831, the Sisters of Mercy have always shown great compassion for those who suffer, are poor or vulnerable.
The Sisters have a heritage of breaking new ground, particularly when addressing the injustices seen in society.
The Sisters of Mercy arrived in Melbourne in 1857. They provided education, social welfare and assistance to the poor.
A serious influenza epidemic in 1919 led to the Sisters opening their first hospital in 1920.In 1935, Mercy PrivateHospital was opened in East Melbourne, with the MercyMaternityHospital (now called MercyHospital for Women) opening in 1971. Mercy Hospice was established in 1982 to provide palliative care for patients in their own home.In 1994 the Sisters established WerribeeMercyHospital, a public community hospital, to cater for the growing population in the south west of Melbourne.
Mercy Health & History
Some key dates:
1971 Mercy Hospital for Women opens in East Melbourne. 1982 Mercy Hospice opens 1994 Werribee Mercy Hospital opens 1996 Mercy Health & Aged Care formed 1997 Werribee Mercy Mental Health Program opens 1997 Bethlehem and Rice Village join Mercy Health 1998 O’Connell Family Centre 1999 Tullamore and Eventide 2005 Mercy Place Colac opens 2005 Mercy Hospital for Women moves to Heidelberg
The Sisters of Mercy reviewed the governance and management of their healthcare facilities in 1995. The following year Mercy Health & Aged Care Inc was formed to ensure existing services remained sustainable and to provide a structure that would enable the organisation to grow and meet society’s changing needs.
Aged care was identified as an area of growing need and in 1997 we assumed responsibility for Bethlehem Home for the Aged and RiceVillage, which was a brand new aged care facility.
In 1998 O’Connell Family Centre became part of our rapidly growing group. We assumed control of Tullamore Aged Care Centre and Eventide Aged Care facility in 1999. Tullamore (now Mercy Place Montrose) had been operated by a local community group in Montrose since 1982 and Eventide had been run by the Colac community since 1952, until they asked to join Mercy Health.
A period of rebuilding and consolidation followed our rapid growth during the 1990s. In 2005 Werribee Mercy Hospital completed a $10 million upgrade; Mercy Hospital for Women moved to a new $81 million building in Heidelberg; Eventide Mercy was replaced by Mercy Health & Aged Care Colac - a new 60-bed home; and Tullamore Mercy opened a 24 bed extension.
In 2008, Mercy Health & Aged Care became 'Mercy Health'. As a consquence of this process, the following facility names have changed*.
*Italicised names represent the current facility names.
Health Services
Mercy Hospital for Women - Heidelberg
Mercy Hospital for Women
Werribee Mercy Hospital - Werribee
Werribee Mercy Hospital
Werribee Mercy Mental Health Program - Western region of Melbourne
Mercy Mental Health - Psychiatric Unit
Mercy Mental Health - Mother Baby Service
Mercy Mental Health - Community Care Unit
Mercy Mental Health - Wyndham Clinic
Saltwater - Footscray
Mercy Mental Health - Saltwater Clinic
Mercy Learning Centre
Mercy Health Training Institute
Subacute
Mercy Care Centre - Young
Mercy Care Centre Young
Mercy Health Service - Albury Wodonga
Mercy Health Albury
Mercy Hospice and Mercy Western Palliative Care - Western region of Melbourne
Mercy Palliative Care
O'Connell Family Centre - Canterbury
Mercy Health O'Connell Family Centre
Lymphoedema Compression Garment Program - East Melbourne & Heidelberg
Mercy Health Lymphoedema Clinic
Aged Care
Marianella Nursing Home - Albury
Mercy Place Albury
Bethlehem Home for the Aged - Bendigo
Mercy Health Bethlehem Home for the Aged
East Melbourne - Opened 2009
Mercy Place East Melbourne
Mercy Health & Aged Care Colac - Colac
Mercy Place Colac
Geelong - Rice Village
Mercy Place Rice Village
Montrose - Tullamore Mercy
Mercy Place Montrose
Parkville - Opened in 2009
Mercy Place Parkville
Sandringham - Fernhill Mercy
Mercy Place Fernhill
Shepparton - Mercy Health & Aged Care Shepparton
Mercy Place Shepparton
Werribee - Villa Franca
Mercy Place Wyndham
Young - Mt St Joseph's Nursing Home
Mt St Joseph's Nursing Home
Home Care
Windsor Mercy Home Care - Eastern suburbs of Melbourne
Mercy have always shown great compassion for those who suffer, are poor or vulnerable. 
