From Burge Deaconess to CoxHealth ...

Her founding principles prevailed as the hospital took on many forms to become today’s billion-dollar health care system, with 9,250 employees serving 2.5 million patients per year at four hospitals and more than 50 clinics.

“We’re blessed with beautiful facilities and the latest technology, but unless we value our human capital, we really don’t have anything,” said Robert H. Bezanson, CoxHealth president and CEO since 2004, who has held a variety of senior-level management positions since joining the organization in 1981.

“My commitment when I became CEO was to spend a lot more time developing our people,” he added.

The emphasis on patient care and human resources has helped CoxHealth earn numerous awards, including designations as a Top 100 Hospital in the United States according to Health Care Investment Analysts, and as a Top 100 Integrated System according to Hospitals & Health Networks magazine.

Lasting legacy

Burge and her husband, George, accumulated considerable property, much of which she gave to charity after his death in 1902. He had been a Union soldier in the Civil War, worked as a druggist on the south side of the square in Springfield and later ran a general merchandise store on Commercial Street. Ellen Burge’s many community and charitable causes included being president of the Women’s Home Missionary Society of the Methodist Episcopal Church, a charter member of Benton Avenue Church and a contributor to Marionville College.

Her lasting legacy began in 1906, when she gave her 16-room, two-story frame house at 1327 N. Jefferson Ave. to be used as a Methodist hospital. It was named Burge Deaconess Hospital in her honor, along with the Burge Hospital School for Nurses established shortly thereafter. In 1907, she purchased land for construction of a three-story, 30-bed hospital adjacent to the house. The new building opened 11 months later.

Burge died in 1922 at age 78, after a long illness and many weeks as a patient in her hospital. The hospital had been struggling financially, and in 1924, the Women’s Home Missionary Society, which owned the hospital, deeded it to a group of Springfield citizens in hopes of securing a strong and viable financial future. The group renamed it Burge Hospital. Its financial struggles continued until the beginning of the Lester E. Cox era in 1949.

Financial healing

Lester E. Cox grew up on a farm near Republic, attended Drury College and served in the U.S. Army in World War I. After the Army, he was a principal in many businesses in the Springfield area, including a tractor dealership, dairy farm, and radio and television stations. He served on numerous corporate boards including St. Louis-San Francisco Railway and Ozark Air Lines.

In 1949, a group of Burge Hospital physicians asked him to help save the hospital, which was near financial collapse. Cox challenged them to raise $75,000 and said he would match it. The physicians raised more than that, and Cox doubled his gift to $150,000. Cox was named chairman of the board and for 19 years presided over expansions and technological advances that caused Burge to grow to 534 beds and assets of more than $12 million at the time of his death in 1968. After his death, the board renamed the hospital Lester E. Cox Medical Center. A member of the Cox family has served on the board as chairman or member continuously since 1949. Currently, Lester E. Cox’s grandsons, Lester B. Cox and Larry Lipscomb are members.

“We are a community hospital, and our board members are business and professional people who live and work in Springfield,” said Charles H. Chalender, board chairman. “The decisions we make affect us because we are also consumers right here.”

Building the Medical Mile

Board decisions have been far reaching.

Beginning in 1980, Cox Medical Center took the lead in developing land along a stretch of South National Avenue from Battlefield Road to James River Freeway into what is known as Medical Mile.

The health system built Cox Medical Center South and changed the name of its hospital on North Jefferson Avenue to Cox Medical Center North.

Among the 14 Cox-affiliated facilities built in close proximities to Cox South are a nursing home, child-care center, heart center, cancer center and an imaging center.

In 1993, the organization changed its name to Cox Health Systems, and in 2002, it changed to CoxHealth.

Its latest project is the complete redevelopment of the aging Cox North campus into what will be called CoxHealth Medical Park. The $55 million plan will replace Cox North hospital with three new freestanding buildings: Cox College of Nursing, Behavioral Health Center, and Family Medicine Residency, with 24-hour urgent care. The Cox North expansion is part of a recently announced 15-year, $200 million master redevelopment plan.

CoxHealth Foundation, which raises money to meet patients’ needs, will have a major role in funding development of the College of Nursing, especially scholarships.

“That is an incredibly critical piece of future healthcare in our community,” said Lisa Alexander, president of the foundation. “Our nurses go much farther than just to hospitals. They are in our schools, churches, insurance companies and other businesses. We’re training the health care professionals who will be involved across the board in communities.”

CoxHealth

Founded: 1906

(as Burge Deaconess Hospital)

Owner: Nonprofit corporation governed by a 24-member board

Corporate Address: 3850 S. National Ave., Springfield, MO 65807

Telephone: (417) 269-3000

Fax: (417) 269-3104

Web site: www.coxhealth.com

Fiscal Year 2005 Operating Revenues: $790.7 million

Assets: $759.1 million

Gross Patient Care

Revenue: $1.4 billion

Services: Health care in 25 counties in southwest Missouri and northwest Arkansas

Number of Employees: 9,250

Number of Beds: 986 at three hospitals in Springfield and one in Monett

The Facilities

Thanksgiving 1906— Ellen Burge, the widow of a prominent Springfield lawyer, donates her frame duplex on Jefferson Avenue to be used as a Methodist hospital. It is named Burge Deaconess Hospital.

1908—A three-story brick building with one operating room and 30 beds is constructed adjacent to the original house.

1966—Burge Hospital expands to 500 patient beds.

1970s—Cox Medical Center becomes the pioneer of Medical Mile, purchasing land north of Highway M to be used for a nursing home.

1970s—A 10-story physicians’ office building, Cox Medical Tower, is built across the street from the hospital.

1974—The Medical Tower physicians’ office building is completed and computers enter into the hospital.

Oct. 23, 1980—Cox announces plans to construct Cox South, a 220 bed women’s and children’s hospital at a projected cost of $35 million.

Dec. 16, 1981—Ground breaking ceremonies take place at 3801 S. National on the 80-acre farmland purchased from Hester Gibson in January 1973.

1985—The 10-story hospital known as Cox Medical Center South is completed.

Early 1990—Cox Medical Plaza I opens its doors with space for 80 physicians, 30 hotel guest rooms and 11,000 square feet for outpatient rehabilitation. Springfield’s longest above-ground connector, the Cox Skywalk, is built across National.

1993—Lester E. Cox Medical Centers becomes Cox Health Systems.

May 2002—Plans for southwest Missouri’s first medically-based wellness and rehab center, The Meyer Center, are unveiled.

May 2003—Cox announces a $2 million gift to transform Cox Medical Plaza I to the Clarence R. and Edna M. Wheeler Heart and Vascular Center.

July 2004—The Martin Center for Diagnostic and Imaging Services opens.

Feb. 2006—Board approves $200 million, 15-year redevelopment plan, starting with a $55 million overhaul of its north hospital campus. (See rendering below.)

Source: www.coxhealth.net