Lower Cape Fear Hospice & LifeCareCenter is expanding its reach through a merger, the organization announced last week. Effective April 1, Mercy Care, a nonprofit hospice in Myrtle Beach, will become a division of the Wilmington-based organization.

Mercy Care will retain its name and brand, and its Myrtle Beach office will continue to operate, according to a news release. Some of Mercy Care’s administrative and operational functions will be folded into those of Lower Cape Fear Hospice & LifeCareCenter (LCFH), the release stated, adding that Mercy Care's 65 employees will join LCFH’s more than 325 employees.

"This new collaboration helps support our strategic goals to expand the reach of our hospice services and will enhance our ability to provide quality end-of-life care to everyone facing a serious illness," Laurie Bystrom, LCFH president and CEO, said in the release.
 
"By working together, we will ensure patients and families in Mercy Care's service area have access to quality, compassionate, end-of-life care,” Bystrom said in the release. “We will also have the added benefit of being able to reach more people with our non-reimbursed services like bereavement support, Healing Arts, programs for children and teens, and care for patients who are not covered by Medicaid, Medicare or private insurance plans."
 
According to the release, LCFH cares for more than 600 hospice and palliative care patients in  Bladen, Brunswick, Columbus, New Hanover, Onslow and Pender counties each day. Mercy Care serves about 130 similar patients each day in Horry, Georgetown and Marion counties in South Carolina.