Dressed in costumes that reflected their team names, colleagues from Mercy Medical Center took to the ice at the Mass Mutual Center for the Springfield Thunderbirds’ 2023 Hospital Bed Races. The four Mercy teams were named “The Grateful Bed,” “The Purple Pod,” Johnnies on the Spot,” and “Team 5.” The Mercy teams competed against colleagues from other hospitals in racing their hospital beds down the ice and back between periods of the Thunderbirds’ game against the Utica Comets. Led by Mercy President Robert Roose, M.D., “The Grateful Bed” took second place in the entertaining competition, just missing out on winning the “Golden Bed Pan” trophy.
The Hospital Bed Races were part of the AHL team’s annual Hockey Fights Cancer Night, an NHL effort that unites the hockey community in support of cancer patients and their families. The Thunderbirds event also included a post-game jersey auction that raised $26,000. The funds have been directed to the NHL’s official Hockey Fights Cancer charity as well as several local cancer care organizations, including the Sister Caritas Cancer Center at Mercy Medical Center.