New Mercy LIFE director dedicated to serving

By ROB HERBST
The Catholic Week
MOBILE — Hospitality and service run in new Mercy LIFE of Alabama executive director David Grimes’ blood.
As a child, Grimes assisted his grandmother who owned two boarding homes and took care of the elderly. Grimes’ parents also owned restaurants, so he helped wait tables and serve customers. 
Grimes has worked in the health care industry since 1987 and took over as head of Mercy LIFE this spring. Mobile-based Mercy LIFE provides an array of health care services to help seniors with chronic care needs to delay nursing home stays. While not an Archdiocese of Mobile operation, it is recognized as a Catholic ministry with its roots coming from the Sisters of Mercy.
“The service side of what we do (is what I enjoy),” Grimes said. “I don’t mean it to sound noble, but I’m at my best when serving others.”
Grimes, a Loxley native who graduated from Faulkner Community College and Troy University with a degree in communications and public relations, “fell into the health care industry.” He was referred to a company seeking someone for a nursing home position in Foley and hasn’t left the industry since.
“My grandmother inspired me in some ways,” he said. “I watched how she took care of other people and that certainly impacted me.”
Eventually, Grimes got to return the favor.
“She came to live with me at one of my nursing homes and died there. She called me up from the hospital one day and said ‘I'm coming to stay with you at the nursing home until I feel better,’ Grimes said. “What was supposed to be a temporary stay was a permanent stay of her own doing.”
Grimes is still serving the elderly at Mercy Life, but using a different model. Mercy LIFE is a PACE program – Program of All-inclusive Care of the Elderly and is the lone program in Alabama. It’s for those who are eligible for nursing home care, but want to live at home.
Services include therapy, recreation, nursing services, social work services, home care services, chaplain services, transportation assistance and more. “We’re a one-stop shop,” Grimes said.
It has a cap of 200 participants and Mercy LIFE has 160 participants today. “We look forward to emerging from the pandemic and growing that number to 200,” he said.
“My mother is in a nursing home right now. My brothers and I did everything we could to keep her safe in the community until the point came where she was no longer able to thrive safely in the community. I believe in the program because I’ve lived it,” Grimes said.