St. John?s, Cox planning large-scale expansions, improvements

Both major area health systems have big changes and expansions in the works, according to representatives of St. John's Health System and Cox Health Systems.

St. John's Health System

St. John's expansion will benefit more than just the immediate Springfield area, according to Cora Scott, director of St. John's community relations.

"These projects have a vast regional scope, from northern Arkansas all the way to Rolla," Scott said. "It will change the landscape of health care in the entire area."

Major additions and improvements are planned for St. John's Regional Health Center's main campus in Springfield, according to Chief Operating Officer Jon Swope.

Swope said that St. John's Health System will spend an estimated $300 million on the five- to six-year plan 85 percent, or $240 million, will be devoted exclusively to renovations and additions to St. John's Regional Health Center.

The master site and facilities plan includes plans for a new 130,000-square-foot office building and ambulatory surgery center, 1,000-car, six-story parking facility, new 300-bed inpatient tower, ad-ditional meeting rooms and education facilities.

A traffic loop will wind through the campus to make access easier, and the northeast side of the hospital also will be expanded. A new emergency trauma center is to be constructed on the west side of the hospital. Construction began in October 2001 on the ambulatory surgery center.

With main campus construction ex-pected to take as long as six years, Swope realizes that patients, employees and physicians will have to deal with the displacement caused by such a huge project.

"We're probably going to have to use alternative parking areas and shuttle our employees in," he said. "We ask for everyone's patience as we proceed with this project. When it's all done, we'll have a state-of-the-art facility that will meet our patients' needs now and in the future."

St. John's eventually will make im-provements to the system's Smith-Glynn-Callaway location at 3231 S. National, according to Swope. Plans are being developed and details on that project should be known in six months. "We want to create a patient-friendly facility," he said. "To do that, we need to redesign and remodel that space. That location will be transformed into a primary care service site."

The architect for the master site facilities plan is Christner Inc. of Clayton, and C & R Healthcare Planning of Bridgeton is serving as engineering consultant. Other firms involved with the expansion projects include DeWitt & Associates Inc., contractor; Ireland & Associates, architect; Mathews & Associates, civil engineer, Dennis Amsinger, surveyor; Bales Construction Co. Inc.; and Heid-eman & Associates Inc., civil engineer.

Cox Health Systems

Cox Health Systems has a five-year strategic plan for expansion and im-provement of their facilities, according to Laurie Glenn Cunningham, director of public relations. The cost of the intended expansions and improvements is expected to be between $50 million and $60 million, Cunningham said.

Improvements to Cox's Walnut Lawn facility are set to begin in February and will bring the facility's square footage to 90,000-100,000 square feet. Included in the addition will be a fitness and rehab complex with lap and therapy pools, a gymnasium, racquetball courts, child-care area, and locker room facilities on the first floor. The second floor of the fitness and rehab center will house a cardio theater, exercise equipment and an aerobics room. The architects involved with this project are Butler, Rosenbury & Partners Inc. and Browning, Day, Mul-lins & Dierdorf Inc., and the engineer is Circle Design Group. The addition is expected to be complete in 2003.

"The emphasis with that facility will be on medical fitness, not just orthopedic or sports-related medicine," Cunning-ham said. "We will take a total approach to wellness and medical fitness."

The addition of a diagnostic imaging center at the Cox Walnut Lawn location also is being considered. "The emphasis there will be on outpatient radiology services," Cunningham said. In addition, Cox is considering constructing additional medical office space at that site.

Cox Heart Center will consolidate all cardiac outpatient services into Cox Medical Plaza I. That location will eventually bring the Lipid Clinic, Cardiac Support Center, and all Ferrell Duncan cardiologists and cardiovascular surgeons together under one roof. The cardiac rehab portion of Cox Heart Center will be expanded.

The Hulston Cancer Center will bring all outpatient cancer services together in a single building, Cox Medical Plaza II.

All outpatient oncology services located at Cox Medical Center South move in to the Plaza, along with expanded radiation services and the breast care clinic.

For both the Hulston Cancer Center and the Cox Heart Center, the architect is the Farnsworth Group and the engineer is Ross & Baruzzini.

Future plans also call for a health information and resource center, which will include a visitor's gallery and transportation and accommodation services.

The consolidations will make trips to the doctor much easier and less draining for patients, according to Cunningham.

"Single point-of-entry care follows a trend nationwide moving toward the consolidation of like services," she said.

No news yet as to what Cox will do with the former SFG building at 3901 S. Fremont, purchased by Cox in October 2001.

"What attracted us to that property is that it will be an extension of our east campus," Cunningham said, adding that the building could be used for office space for the hospital.

Cox Medical Center North, at 1423 N. Jefferson, also will be expanded, al-though the specifics have not yet been finalized.

"We're looking at expansion of specialty services there, including cardiology services," Cunningham said. The cardiac services renovation at Cox North is being handled by architect Alan Bates of Bates & Associates, Architects, and Ma-lone, Finkle, Eckhardt and Collins Inc. is serving as engineer.

The expansions will help Cox better serve the Ozarks demographic, Cunning-ham said.

"One of the main reasons we're doing this is to be able to respond to our aging and growing population," she said. "We need to expand to be able to serve them now and in the future."

Both hospitals are also looking to expand services in other locations. Cun-ningham said that Cox is adding a cardiologist, a general surgeon and is in the process of recruiting an orthopedist for the Cox North location.

According to Swope, St. John's is developing plans for adding to services at its Kearney Street Clinic, and it is taking a critical look at the health care needs of residents of Christian, Stone and Taney counties.