Mercy Medical Center – Des Moines announced plans today to close Mercy Subacute Care, located at Mercy Capitol, on March 29. The unit provides interim and long-term care for patients not ready to return home after being discharged from the hospital. The 35-bed unit is currently staffed by 36 nurses, nursing assistants and other rehabilitation specialists. Each of those staff members will be offered positions within Mercy Medical Center – Des Moines, a spokesman said.

“This is not a layoff; it’s a closing of a unit,” Mercy spokesman Gregg Lagan said. “The persons working there are being offered other positions, and we would like to keep them with the Mercy family.” The staff resources will be redirected toward additional care in core services offered by Mercy, such as orthopedics, cancer and cardiac care, he said.

The decision to close the unit, which has provided skilled nursing services as part of Mercy Medical Center since 1987, was made after a lengthy evaluation of the community need for skilled nursing services, said Sara Drobnich, senior vice president and administrator of Mercy Capitol.

“When Mercy first opened the unit, it was in response to a community need for a facility that offered skilled nursing services to patients being discharged from acute care hospital settings,” Drobnich said in a press release. “Today, there are more than 20 community-based skilled nursing facilities in the Des Moines metro area, including Mercy’s own Bishop Drumm Care Center. As the number of skilled nursing facilities has increased in the community, the need for Mercy to provide this service at two separate facilities has decreased.”

The average stay of patients at the unit is 15 days; Mercy will stop accepting new patients into the unit on Feb. 15. Any remaining patients will be relocated to other facilities.

Mercy Capitol is scheduled to close next year when Mercy Medical Center – West Lakes opens as its replacement in West Des Moines.