St. Joseph Mercy Chelsea to Change Its Name

By Doug Marrin, STN Reporter

St. Joseph Mercy Chelsea Hospital will soon be getting a newer, shorter name, “Chelsea Hospital.”

The move comes as a part of Trinity Health Michigan’s initiative over the next eight months to rebrand its eight hospitals and hundreds of care sites in Michigan under one name and logo.

Trinity Health is the parent company of Mercy Health and Saint Joseph Mercy Health System, along with their employed medical groups IHA and Mercy Health Physician Partners. Also included are 22 senior living communities, three home health agencies, MercyElite Sports Performance, and Probility Physical Therapy.

"As members of Trinity Health for 22 years, we are transforming our identity to assert our presence as one of Michigan’s largest health care systems, with a singular commitment to keeping our patients at the center of everything we do," said Rob Casalou, president and CEO of Trinity Health Michigan and Southeast Regions. "We are peeling back the layers to reveal a unified organization with a shared legacy and mission of service to the communities we're honored to serve."

Casalou announced the new brand identity in an online press conference this morning. In coordination with the announcement, a new "We are Trinity Health" multimedia campaign will launch this week with a 30-second commercial.

For Trinity’s eight hospitals, the new branding will be “Trinity Health” with the geographical location. The one exception is St. Joseph Mercy Chelsea, which will be changed to “Chelsea Hospital.” This is due to the partnership between Trinity and Michigan Medicine at the location. Both logos will appear under the name illustrating the co-ownership.

"Patients will continue to see the same doctors and providers they know and trust, backed by our specialists across Trinity Health who are committed to compassionate and high-quality care personalized to individual needs," said Rosalie Tocco-Bradley, Ph.D., MD, the chief clinical officer of Trinity Health Michigan.

In the press conference, Tocco Bradley listed three reasons for the change:

1. “It means stronger care coordination. A common identity provides focus and clarity for our patients, our physicians, our advanced practice professionals, and our community partners.”
2. “It represents improved access. Today's decision makes accessing services easier wherever Trinity Health has a presence in Michigan.”
3. “A common identity helps us to compete, attract and retain top medical talent in Michigan. It allows us to more effectively market career opportunities for our colleagues to develop and grow.”

In most cases, legacy names such as “St. Joseph” and “St. Mary” will be featured on new signs to help patients and visitors become familiar with the new brand for a transitory period. Eventually, the legacy names will be removed.

Trinity Health is one of the nation's largest not-for-profit Catholic health systems with 115,000 employees and nearly 26,000 physicians and clinicians across 25 states.

"We are excited to move forward into a new era as one organization while honoring our dynamic and inclusive care teams, Catholic healing ministry, and deep community roots," Casalou said.