Brandon Mencini has been on the job as the new chief executive officer at Centura Mercy Hospital, formerly Mercy Medical Center, since October. Mencini said he’s been busy acclimating himself to the ins and outs of the hospital.
“I spent the majority of my time just really understanding the facility itself, you know, coming in nights and getting to know our team, getting behind the red line and the OR and working in cases spending a lot of time down in the ER with our staff as well, too. I really wanted to truly understand what we do day in and day out at the facility.”
Mencini comes from the Denver area and brings 20 years of experience as an emergency medical technician before going to Virginia to work as chief operating officer at Chippenham Hospital in Richmond.
Lack of trust in the community is one of Mencini's inherited challenges. He said he wants to be transparent with the team at Centura Mercy as well as the community at large.
“I'm open to conversations with anybody that wants to sit down, and talk to people that have thoughts, suggestions and ideas - and then just to be transparent and open in our communication as we move forward.”
During the height of the pandemic, the hospital was criticized for not sharing availability of patient beds and ventilators on any given day. Centura Health has owned Mercy Regional Medical Center since 2010, recently rebranded as Centura Mercy Hospital. According to Mencini, being a part of a greater healthcare network enhances patient care.
“Being apart of a system has a ton of value,” Mecini said.
One of the biggest gaps in healthcare that Mencini sees in the community is lack of mental health services. “We don't have a medical detox. We have limited inpatient beds.” Mencini’s goal is to strategize how to increase those services.
Centura Mercy Hospital is also in the planning process of building new offices that will house an ambulatory surgery center and provide outpatient care.