The Old Mercy Hospital: Jackson, Michigan 1917-1984

Mercy Hospital – also known as Foote West – once stood on Lansing Avenue, just south of Ganson Street. While attending Jackson Community College back in 1969-1971, I had a friend who lived in an apartment just a block north of Mercy; but most importantly, my son was born at that hospital.

That patch of land once belonged to former Michigan governor Austin Blair. He lived in a massive estate on that hill after the Civil War. The land was bought in 1913 and was in Jackson's pocket as it awaited its opportunity to be the new hospital site.

Meantime, the original site of Mercy Hospital was at the corner of Pearl & Blackstone, just a ways south. Sister Mary Assissium Hynes arrived in Jackson in  1915, determined to build a hospital. She and a group of nuns bought the former White Cross Sanitarium, which resided at Pearl & Blackstone, and in February of that year, the old sanitarium was re-opened as Mercy Hospital.

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As more and more patients were being admitted, fundraising was in full progress for a brand new hospital location. Grabbing up the land that was once Austin Blair's, a cornerstone for the new facility was laid on Sept. 23, 1917.

Mercy Hospital was now moved to Lansing Avenue and at its peak had 213 beds. Foote Hospital purchased Mercy in 1975 and re-named it 'Foote West', despite protests from locals.

Nine years later in 1984, Foote West was permanently closed and eventually demolished in 1989. That land now holds the Jackson County Medical Care Facility which opened in November 2002.

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