Mercy Cedar Rapids names Kathy Good as director of The Chris & Suzy DeWolf Family Innovation Center for Aging and Dementia

Kathy Good

Mercy Cedar Rapids has named Kathy Good as the first director of The Chris & Suzy DeWolf Family Innovation Center for Aging & Dementia. The Innovation Center is an integral component of the new HallMar Village project, which is now under construction at 9000 C. Ave. NE.

Good has served as the director of the Family Caregivers Center of Mercy since its inception in 2015. She will lead the development of the Innovation Center as a hub of research, training, and education, where best practices in aging and dementia are discovered, tested and evaluated to help those living with chronic conditions – including dementia – live their lives with purpose. Mercy leaders say Good’s vision and experience will be central to helping build this unique center into the transformative environment envisioned.

“Kathy is an exceptional visionary and leader who led the design and implementation of the Family Caregivers Center from a mere concept to the comprehensive service it is today,” said Tim Charles, Mercy president and CEO. “In addition, she also has unique life experiences that she applies daily in helping others, after having cared for her late husband, Dave, who was diagnosed with the visual variant of Alzheimer’s at the age of 56.”

Good’s background is in social work. She earned both a bachelor’s and master’s degree in social work from the University of Iowa.
“I am thrilled to become the director of The Chris & Suzy DeWolf Family Innovation Center for Aging & Dementia,” Good said. “My personal experience as a care partner with Dave helped me visualize the creation of the Family Caregivers Center of Mercy and provided me with professional purpose. It is an honor and very meaningful to me to now have the opportunity to continue visualizing and bringing the DeWolf Family Innovation Center to life. The combination of HallMar Village and the Innovation Center will offer our community truly unparalleled resources.”

In partnership with Presbyterian Homes & Services, Mercy broke ground on the HallMar Village project in June. The senior living community will provide an advanced, medically integrated environment for older adults – including those living with dementia.