Mercy to Serve as Official Medical Provider of USA Softball Through 2028 Olympic Games

Key points:

• Mercy is the official medical provider of USA Softball through the 2028 Olympic Games.
• The Olympic softball tournament will be played at Devon Park, a short drive from the award-winning Mercy Hospital Oklahoma City and other Mercy facilities around the metro.
• Mercy will help ensure the health, safety and well-being of USA Softball players, coaches and staff as they prepare for the Olympics. Mercy will also provide medical staff support, assist with medical policies and emergency action plans, and support USA Softball's outreach to local communities.

OKLAHOMA CITY - Mercy caregivers will work side-by-side with America's top softball players during their quest for an Olympic gold medal on home turf in 2028.

USA Softball on Tuesday announced a partnership with Mercy as its official medical provider through 2028, including the Olympic Games that summer. The Olympic softball tournament will be played at Devon Park, a short drive from the award-winning Mercy Hospital Oklahoma City and other Mercy facilities around the metro.

"Our Mercy caregivers go to work every day with the same motivation as America's best softball players: to be the best at what they do with teammates supporting each other at every step," said Bennett Geister, president of Mercy Oklahoma City Communities. "It's a blessing and an honor for Mercy to help prepare this team to perform at their best during the moments that matter most. And we hope our neighbors around Oklahoma are excited to receive care from the same Mercy team that keeps the best American athletes at the top of their game."

Mercy will help ensure the health, safety and well-being of USA Softball players, coaches and staff as they prepare for the Olympics. Mercy will also provide medical staff support, assist with medical policies and emergency action plans, and support USA Softball's outreach to local communities.

"At USA Softball, the overall health of our athletes will always be a top priority, and we are proud to welcome Mercy as our official medical provider," said USA Softball CEO Craig Cress. "As we continue preparing our national teams for success on the world stage, having a trusted healthcare partner like Mercy provides invaluable support for our programs. Beyond the field, we are equally excited about the opportunities this partnership creates to engage with and inspire the community."

USA Softball is back in action beginning Saturday as Devon Park hosts Group C of the Women's Softball World Cup. Through Sept. 15, the Americans will face Mexico, Brazil, the Netherlands, New Zealand and China before a playoff round Sept. 16.

About USA Softball

Formerly the Amateur Softball Association (ASA), USA Softball has many important responsibilities as the national governing body of softball in the U.S,. including regulating competition to ensure fairness and equal opportunity to the millions of players who play the sport.

When USA Softball entered the picture in 1933, the sport was in a state of confusion with no unified set of playing rules and no national governing body to provide guidance and stability. USA Softball changed all that by adopting softball's first universally accepted rules of play and by organizing consistent and fair competition across the nation. From this beginning, USA Softball has become one of the nation's largest and fastest growing sports organizations and now sanctions competition in every state through a network of state/metro associations. USA Softball has grown from a few hundred teams in the early days to over 120,000 teams today, representing a membership of more than 1 million.

Mercy, one of the 15 largest U.S. health systems and named the top large system in the U.S. for excellent patient experience by NRC Health, serves millions annually with nationally recognized care and one of the nation's largest and highest performing Accountable Care Organizations in quality and cost. Mercy is a highly integrated, multi-state health care system including 55 acute care and specialty (heart, children's, orthopedic and rehab) hospitals, convenient and urgent care locations, imaging centers and pharmacies. Mercy has over 1,000 physician practice locations and outpatient facilities, more than 5,000 physicians and advanced practitioners and more than 50,000 caregivers serving patients and families across Arkansas, Illinois, Kansas, Missouri and Oklahoma. Mercy also has clinics, outpatient services and outreach ministries in Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas. In fiscal year 2025 alone, Mercy provided more than half a billion dollars of free care and other community benefits, including traditional charity care and unreimbursed Medicaid.