St. John's plans new heart hospital

The health system is in the early stages of planning St. John’s Heart Hospital to centralize cardiology services on its Springfield campus.

The plan, according to hospital spokeswoman Cora Scott, is to move 16 cardiologists, six thoracic surgeons and related services from the National Avenue Medical Building, on the north side of the hospital campus, to Whiteside Medical Building, 2115 S. Fremont Ave., where a 60,000-square-foot expansion is under way. The National Avenue building will then be torn down to make way for St. John’s Heart Hospital.

“We’re seeing tremendous growth in all of our cardiac areas, so this particular project is a priority for us,” Scott said, adding that St. John’s is currently focused on the new patient tower set to open in January. She declined to provide a timeframe for development of St. John’s Heart Hospital, other than to say that it will take several years.

Scott said health system officials are still meeting with cardiologists to determine design specifics and features to include in the heart hospital.

Meanwhile, two additional cardiac catheterization laboratories will open soon in the main hospital building, bringing the total there to eight. The Whiteside expansion also will add two more labs.

“The ultimate goal is to have all of these heart services together in one place when (the new heart hospital) is done,” Scott said, noting that the cardiac facilities’ home in the Whiteside building will be temporary. “We want them to be closer to the hospital where there is the cath lab, open-heart surgery and imaging facilities.”

The expansion of the Whiteside building, according to architect Stephanie Ireland of Ireland & Associates, involves adding two additional floors to the three-story building.

“Originally, the building was designed for six floors,” Ireland said. “We’re just putting five on right now.”

The general contractor for the $10.5 million Whiteside project is DeWitt and Associates. Ireland said it’s unclear how the new floors will be used once physicians and staff move to St. John’s Heart Hospital.

All together now

Having similar services gathered in one location was an attractive solution for CoxHealth as well. The health system held a June 5 open house at the Wheeler Heart and Vascular Center, which now houses nearly all of CoxHealth’s heart services.

The $6.3 million center at 3800 S. National Ave. originally opened in December 2004 after five years of planning and renovations. Additional services were added in phases and the open house was a celebration of completion.

Marketing Director Jim Waring said the goal of the Wheeler center was to create a one-stop shop for outpatient cardiovascular services.

“In the past, if you were a cardiovascular patient, you might go to one building to see your doctor, another to get imaging and a third building for treatment. It makes it difficult for the patient,” said Waring, noting that the building houses 10 cardiologists, two vascular surgeons and two thoracic surgeons who consult with about 20,000 patients a year. “They’d like to have all those appointments scheduled in one day, especially if they’re from out of town.”

The Wheeler center is named after Consumers Markets founders Clarence R. and Edna M. Wheeler, following a $2 million gift from Edna Wheeler. The center is run by CoxHealth Vice President Karen Kramer.

Looking for a leader

All of the new happenings in the St. John’s cardiology department, meanwhile, are happening while the hospital searches for a new vice president of cardiovascular services. Chuck Wollard, a 35-year St. John’s veteran and member of the management staff since 1988, retired in August.

Scott said the search is ongoing for Wollard’s successor. Wollard holds several accomplishments with the hospital: He was a member of the team that performed the hospital’s first open-heart surgery in the early 1970s and helped to start the first cardiac rehab program at the hospital – a program that grew into the Hammons Heart Institute.

The hospital hopes to fill the position in the next few months, Scott said.

“We want to make sure we have an administrator whose credentials equal the level of the service expected from St. John’s heart services,” Scott added.[[In-content Ad]]