Lowe's, Wal-Mart partner with Mercy Hospital Springfield

Lowe's Cos. Inc. (NYSE: LOW) has joined with Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (NYSE: WMT) in designating Mercy Hospital Springfield as a health site to provide employees with benefits-covered knee and hip replacements.

A year ago, Wal-Mart selected the local Mercy hospital to provide no-cost spinal surgeries to its associates and their covered dependents.

With the extended agreement, Wal-Mart and Lowe's are among large employers to join the Pacific Business Group on Negotiating Alliance, which aims to improve employee wellness. The agreement covers some 1.5 million workers and their dependents, who are eligible for no-cost knee and hip replacement surgeries at four hospital systems in the U.S., including Mercy Hospital Springfield. The agreement is expected to bring patients to the Ozarks from across the country, according to a news release.

“When people from other places choose to come here for care, it’s good for our community in a variety of ways. It not only brings in visitors and revenue, it means we’re offering the kind of value people are willing to leave home to find. That assures our local patients they don’t need to go anywhere else for exceptional care," Mercy Hospital Springfield President Dr. Robert Steele said in the release.

Patients who come to Springfield would receive care from the newly opened Mercy Orthopedic Hospital Springfield.

Lowe's operates two stores in Springfield, as well as one apiece in Ozark and Republic.