Hurricane Helene Relief Fund

Like so many in the mountains, we at Mercy Urgent Care are still reeling from the devastation to our Western North Carolina community. Throughout these last two weeks, however, it has become abundantly clear that, together, we are incredibly strong.

While all eight of our facilities throughout the region, including some of our equipment and supplies, were impacted by the storm, our staff worked quickly and tirelessly to get back in working order, knowing that — now more than ever — our services were desperately needed in the community.

Three days after the storm, on Monday, Sept. 30, Mercy Urgent Care Waynesville reopened its doors, providing quality care for patients with non-life-threatening injuries and illness and reducing the strain on the area’s already-overburdened emergency departments. By the end of that week, all facilities but East Asheville were operational, treating patients seeking care in Asheville, Brevard, Burnsville, Columbus, Waynesville and Weaverville. After a week of cleanup and repairs, the East Asheville clinic opened to patients on October 13.

While operational, our East Asheville clinic sustained significant exterior damage, and the South Asheville location has begun to show signs of water damage in the ceiling. Additionally, due to power interruptions and days-long outages region-wide, Mercy’s network lost its entire supply of vaccines, which must always remain refrigerated.

As the region’s only nonprofit healthcare network, these losses are devastating — not only for our team, but for our ability to provide care to our neighbors in need.

Mercy has been an active member of the Asheville community for more than a century, and our mission has always remained the same: to provide quality medical services to all who seek care, regardless of an individual’s ability to pay. Much of that work is made possible through our Compassionate Care program, which provides financial assistance to thousands of qualifying individuals in our community each year. But in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene, more and more of our patients are relying on this program to alleviate health care-related expenses. Still, we believe health concerns should not add to the stress and hardship so many are already facing, and we want to help remove these worries wherever possible.

So, we’re humbly asking for your help.

Please consider supporting Mercy as we work to restore all of our clinics to full operational order, so that we can focus on supporting those in need in our community — through financial assistance and through broader recovery efforts region-wide. As Western North Carolina works together to recover from this unprecedented natural disaster, know that we’re dedicated to being here for our friends and neighbors across the region, supporting this community in whatever way is needed.