SSM Health Care — St. Louis plans to expand and improve its offerings in St. Charles County west of St. Louis County, with a complete redesign of its SSM St. Joseph Hospital West campus in Lake St. Louis, a new emergency department and outpatient center at SSM St. Joseph Health Center - Wentzville, a new outpatient campus in eastern St. Charles and additional urgent care sites.
SSM St. Louis plans to "aggressively recruit" additional physicians, and the system says the interrelated set of projects will benefit patients in nearby Warren and Lincoln counties as well.
Chris Howard, president and chief executive of SSM Health Care – St. Louis, says the improvements, which have started and will continue over the next three to five years, will assist SSM in efforts to create clinically integrated networks for patients, with a primary care practice serving as a single point of contact for managing care.
SSM has set a goal of having the practices of its employed primary care physicians receive National Committee for Quality Assurance certification as medical homes, and its employed physicians in the St. Louis/St. Charles area are on track to get that credential by the end of the year, according to Howard. SSM employs about 110 primary care physicians in St. Charles County.
SSM is investing in areas seeing population growth, with St. Charles the fastest growing county in the state, according to the most recent figures released by the U.S. Census earlier this year.
The redesign of the SSM St. Joseph Hospital West campus includes a new patient tower with 70 additional beds, expanded outpatient and acute care services, and more parking. That hospital has been operating at capacity for several years. "Specific focus is being placed on creating world-class maternity and pediatric programs in partnership with SSM Cardinal Glennon Children's Medical Center in St. Louis," SSM says in a statement.
SSM St. Joseph Health Center-Wentzville's expanded emergency department and outpatient center will open in 2014. It will be able to accommodate 20,000 patients a year, Howard says.
An outpatient campus being developed in eastern St. Charles will be home to many outpatient services currently located at SSM St. Joseph Health Center, also in eastern St. Charles. SSM recently completed a $40 million renovation of that hospital.
Copyright © 2013 by the Catholic Health Association of the United States
For reprint permission, contact Betty Crosby or call (314) 253-3477.