Wal-Mart chooses Mercy-Springfield as health partner

Through Wal-Mart Stores Inc.'s Centers of Excellence program, Mercy Hospital Springfield was selected to provide spinal surgeries at no cost to Wal-Mart associates and their covered dependents.

Through Wal-Mart's benefits program, the publicly traded company (NYSE: WMT) also will pay for health care related travel, lodging and food expenses for employees and dependents enrolled in the company's medical plans, according to a Mercy news release.

Mercy has been chosen as a Center of Excellence for spinal surgeries along with Scott & White Healthcare in Texas and Virginia Mason Medical Center in Washington. Other chosen hospitals will provide heart surgeries and transplants - the Cleveland Clinic in Ohio, Geisinger Medical Center in Pennsylvania and the Mayo Clinic in Arizona.

“We devoted extensive time developing Centers of Excellence and have identified six renowned hospitals that meet the highest quality standards for heart, spine and transplant surgery,” said Sally Welborn, senior vice president of global benefits at Wal-Mart, in the release. “Through these hospitals, our associates will have far less out-of-pocket expenses and a greater peace of mind knowing they are receiving exceptional care from a facility that specializes in the procedure they require."

The Mercy Hospital Springfield spine team comprises five neurosurgeons, two orthopedic spine specialists, four pain management doctors and two spine physiatrists, the release said. The team operates in the Mercy Spine Center-Surgery Center, 1229 E. Seminole St.