Kathryn Ann Meinders Digestive Health Institute opens summer 2026
Oklahomans are only a year away from opening the state’s first comprehensive health care center dedicated exclusively to digestive health.
Donors, Mercy caregivers and community members gathered Thursday for a topping out ceremony to mark the placement of the highest steel beam during construction of the Kathryn Ann Meinders Digestive Health Institute. The $52 million institute, scheduled to open in summer 2026, will be the only facility of its kind within a 500-mile drive.
“We’re excited to be a few steps closer to opening this facility, which means patients suffering from a wide range of complicated health issues will finally have a one-stop shop to take care of their needs,” said Bob Meinders, who along with his late brother Herman and other family members made the institute possible with a $10 million donation. “For it to be on the main campus of Mercy Hospital Oklahoma City makes it that much more convenient for patients to get the best medical care available at the same location.”
Trey Orndorff, a local university professor, knows the benefits the institute will provide to Oklahomans, especially those with complex digestive health issues. Orndorff recently had his first full year in recent memory without a surgery or serious flare-up of Crohn’s disease and related complications thanks to the Mercy services soon to be available under one roof.
“Having that comprehensive care is a huge part of what makes things different,” said Orndorff. “It makes it easier to get everything done at one time, without delays and with the same care team.”
About the Kathryn Ann Meinders Digestive Health Institute
The Kathryn Ann Meinders Digestive Health Institute will be a freestanding, two-level building at 4400 McAuley Blvd. It’s just south of the main Mercy Hospital Oklahoma City buildings, on the east side of N. Meridian Avenue at McAuley Boulevard.
The 52,000-square-foot institute, licensed through the state Health Department, will have seven procedure rooms, 21 prep/recovery rooms, a chapel, ambulatory space for gastro-intestinal health care, an inflammatory bowel disease clinic, a hepatology clinic, a motility lab, education space and administrative offices.
With plans to hire three new physicians within the first year, Mercy’s capacity to help patients with digestive health needs will significantly expand.
“This meets a dire need for so many patients in Oklahoma,” said Dr. Hussein Bitar, a board-certified gastroenterologist. “Instead of piecing together care from different providers at different places, digestive health patients will be able to get everything they need in the same building. That’s never been possible before in Oklahoma.”
The facility is named for Herman Meinders’ late daughter, Kathryn Ann, who died unexpectedly in 2008 at age 42 of causes unrelated to gastrointestinal health. Kathryn Ann and her father were very close, traveling together across the world as Herman built his flowers-by-wire business. She was an accomplished educator and beloved member of her family.
Meinders and Mercy
From 2018 until Herman’s death this year, Herman and LaDonna Meinders donated nearly $20 million to Mercy Health Foundation. The $10 million donation for the digestive health institute is the Meinders’ largest single gift to Mercy, and one from a long list of major gifts from the family. Herman Meinders is the second-largest donor across all five states Mercy serves.
The Meinders family’s donations have contributed to the resounding success of the Meinders NeuroScience Institute, making Mercy Hospital Oklahoma City the top-ranked neurological hospital in the state.
One recent donation funded the Meinders Center for Movement Disorders, and another major contribution went to the Love Family Women’s Center.
The Meinders’ gift of a new CT imaging machine in the hospital’s Emergency Department propelled Mercy to the No. 1 rank nationally in door-to-needle time for stroke patients, ensuring they receive the fastest-possible care at a time when every second counts.
