Gifts would have pleased first Cleveland Clinic pediatrician
When Robert D. (Bob) Mercer, MD, was recruited to Cleveland Clinic in 1951 to start the Department of Pediatrics, he was already well-known in the community. He and his wife Ann had helped to found the Cleveland chapter of the United Cerebral Palsy Association, now located on Cleveland Clinic’s main campus.
Dr. Mercer had a reputation as a caring doctor to his young patients and a gifted teacher to other physicians. Long after his retirement in 1983, he was remembered for his contributions to medicine and to Cleveland Clinic. In 2000, for example, he was honored during the dedication ceremony for the Alumni Library in the educational wing of the newly opened Lerner Research Institute.
“We had a very happy experience at Cleveland Clinic,” says Mrs. Mercer, who moved with her husband to Englewood, Fla., after he retired. “We enjoyed our years there, watching it grow from a small institution.”
Dr. Mercer died in 2002. “My family and I wanted to make a contribution in his memory,” Mrs. Mercer says, so last fall they consulted with Robert Wyllie, MD, Chairman of Cleveland Clinic’s Pediatric Institute & Children’s Hospital. Dr. Wyllie checked with his team, and “the staff thought of just the thing: better cushions for the recliners in patient rooms,” Mrs. Mercer says.
“Dr. Robert Mercer was an outstanding pediatrician and educator who founded the Department of Pediatrics at Cleveland Clinic,” Dr. Wyllie says. “When we thought about the legacy Bob and Ann have given us, their dedication to children and their families comes to mind. Better sleeping cushions in the pediatric intensive care unit will make families a little more comfortable during their stay.”
Adds Mrs. Mercer: “Such basic amenities are important to family members staying with their critically ill children during times of crisis. My husband would be pleased with something so simple but appropriate. It is an excellent use of our family’s $10,000 gift.”
To make a gift supporting the Pediatric Institute & Children’s Hospital or any area of Cleveland Clinic, visit iSupport, our secure online giving site, or call Institutional Relations and Development at 216.444.1245 or toll-free at 800.223.2273, ext. 41245.
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