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For Immediate Release
April 30, 2007
Mercy Brews Trendy Coffee
Oklahoma City — The days of hunting for a coffee
vending machine near the emergency room are over. Move over bad coffee
and Styrofoam cups. Make way for trendy coffee bars, sandwich shops and
much happier customers in hospitals nationwide.
This week Mercy Health Center opens Catherine’s
Corner, complete with Starbucks® coffee, upscale sandwiches and fresh
baked treats.
“Our new eatery is like combining the concept of
Panera Bread with a Starbucks,” said Tom Peterson, Mercy’s director of
support services. “Lots of hospitals have little kiosks that serve
coffee and treats, but we have a coffee house and sandwich shop that
seats 40. This is hotel-style food service in a hospital.”
As a licensee of Starbucks, Mercy’s Catherine’s
Corner “proudly brews Starbucks coffee,” offering everything from lattes
to cappuccinos to white chocolate mochas. Morning fare includes scones,
muffins and sticky buns. For mid-day, customers have a choice of six
different salads (from beef tenderloin salad with feta to a grilled
chicken Caesar salad) and eight different sandwiches or wraps (rosemary
chicken sandwich to an Asian chicken wrap).
“Patients and their families want to have more
options than just a hospital cafeteria,” said Peterson. “They don’t want
to have to leave the hospital to find some different options.”
Besides Catherine’s Corner, named after Mercy
Foundress Catherine McAuley, Mercy also has a City Bites on campus.
“And of course, we serve tea at Catherine’s Corner,”
said Peterson. “It wouldn’t be Mercy if we didn’t serve tea.”
Peterson’s tea reference dates back almost 200 years
ago to Mercy’s beginnings in Dublin, Ireland, and the importance of
Catherine McAuley. McAuley was the very first Sister of Mercy—a woman of
courage and charity who was stunned by the overwhelming needs of the
poor in her hometown of Dublin. She was a woman of great compassion and
prayer—a socialite turned social worker—who put her faith into action.
In 1827, Catherine used her million-dollar
inheritance to open the first House of Mercy on Baggot Street—right in
the heart of one of the city’s wealthiest neighborhoods. McAuley
continually cared for others. So much so that as she was dying, she
said, “Be sure they (some Sisters arriving from a long trip) have a
comfortable cup of tea.” Since that time, hospitality and tea go hand in
hand.
Although the grand opening for Catherine’s Corner is
Wednesday, a blessing and tea will be held today at 3 p.m. Catherine’s
Corner, located in the lobby of The Tower Physician Offices (the
building that has a cross atop), is open Monday through Friday from 6:30
a.m. to 6 p.m. and Saturday, 6:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.
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