Mercy or Unity?

amycowman · March 2009

I live in between both hospitals and am wondering if I can get some advice on experiences people have had at both. I've never been to either, so I'm trying to get some advice before I decide which one to pick to deliver at.

Thanks!

mnbride1013 · March 2009

I've always liked Mercy. All of my friends and SIL's have had their babies there. It's a nice hospital. If I still lived in CR I would probably be delivering there, too, but I moved to Maple Grove, so we're going to North Memorial. Take a tour of each and see which one you like better!

KKM · March 2009

NOT Unity.....*shudders*

hbach83 · March 2009

I delivered at Mercy three weeks ago today.

Review:

We really liked it. Granted, our birth story is unique (water broke at 1:40am, arrived at hospital at 2:40am, baby born 2:53am = lightning fast experience), so we didn't get to experience any of the staff for the labor (since there really was none) but it was still a good experience overall. The nurses in triage with me who recognized I was minutes from delivery acted quickly and were very nice and very understanding to my utter confusion and panic. The delivery went very smoothly, and the doctor on call was fabulous. It was a mostly flawless delivery.

Postpartum was ok - we wish we could've gotten more sleep instead of being bugged for paperwork, vitals, checks, etc - this is where we did get annoyed w/ nurses and staff.... all we wanted to do is sleep and they bugged us constantly. That is our only complaint.

And I was impressed with the food service process and staff. The menu options were awesome and so many of them! Definitely a change in the last few years since I had my last baby in 2004....

But overall, I give Mercy a B+ for the whole 3 days we were there. I heard a lot of people having bad experiences there, but if they are really that bad, then I'm feeling lucky we had a pleasant experience. I can't complain!

mattnlinz03 · March 2009

KKM:

NOT Unity.....*shudders*

Late on this one, but I agree with KKM on this one.

jdreams76 · March 2009

Which Ob's did you see when you went to Mercy? I work for allina but live in Taylors Falls Mn and have no idea what Ob's are good in Allina's network and for insurance reasons I need to stay in Network.. Any ideas?

hbach83 · March 2009

jdreams76:
Which Ob's did you see when you went to Mercy? I work for allina but live in Taylors Falls Mn and have no idea what Ob's are good in Allina's network and for insurance reasons I need to stay in Network.. Any ideas?

I went to the Coon_Rapids Women's clinic across the street from Mercy and had a good experience using many of the docs. Our favorite was Ron Gourneau - we requested him for every appointment. Didn't always get him though (at times he was out of the office or booked, etc.) - but he was always really friendly and quite funny and very personable. Most of the time it didn't feel like he was a doctor, but more like a very knowledgeable friend. Our very first appointment, he came into the room and said "Hey, pregnant lady." and I knew I'd love him for his humor. Anyone that can be cool enough to refer to you as "pregnant lady" is alright in my book!

Other times, when we couldn't see Gourneau, we saw Lindquist, Baeker-Deutsch, and Burdick. Our delivery doc, who is also a doc at the clinic but we never saw her, was Webster and she was awesome at the delivery. Really good bedside manner and very helpful with all of our questions.

moboysx2 · March 2009

I work at Mercy and would agree it is a nice facility- One of my close friends delivered her first baby there and said it was a good experience. I also have had friends deliver at Unity-who also had a good experience. Unity is a little smaller and older. Tour both to see how you feel in both places. As long as you have a normal pregnancy either should be fine- I am sure the OB docs go to both facilities-so it may not matter in the long run.

jdreams76 · March 2009

Thanks everyone

I am still trying to decide. I live in Taylors Falls Mn so i could go to either mercy or unity or cambridge medical center which are all Allina facilities.. I am not sure which i wanna do. I know very little about cambridge except that my step dad said he wouldnt go there if he was dying and my parents live 10miles from that hospital. So i dont know what to do. Did you all tour the facilities before you picked a doc? I am leaning toward Mercy...

hbach83 · March 2009

No, I didn't tour before I chose the docs. We chose the clinic first, then decided that since Mercy was across the street + we live in CR, it would just be natural for us to go there. And it's a good thing too, because when it came down to the night I went into labor, had I gone to any other hospital, I would have delivered my son in the car. He was born 10 minutes after we got to Mercy.....We're lucky we chose our care based on location!

angel22 · March 2009

I've NEVER liked Mercy. Both of my girls were born at Unity (even though Mercy is closer) and this new baby will be born at Unity, also. I have visited friends at Mercy and their visitor policy wasn't enforced at all! Also, there were laboring mothers in the next rooms- very distracting. I didn't like how large the rooms were, too many people could be in there at one time and then they have no reason to leave! You are going to want time to yourself.

At Unity the visitor policy is very strict- you have to use a phone just to gain access to the recovery wing. They are very careful when they do anything with the baby. Very good at making sure who you are and that you know who they are before they TOUCH baby. The food was pretty good, too! I like that the rooms are private and large enough for a few visitors but not so large that no one feels the need to leave. I also liked the proximity to restaurants and shopping for family that just needs to get out and about. Northtown Mall is very close as are a host of places to eat. Most importantly, I LOVE the staff at Unity. I had one old bag that was a little out of it, but she has retired now, so no worries there!

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