BJC, SSM, St. E’s Progress Reported
Date Posted: March 31, 2015
Posted In: News, Projects,
by Tom Finan, Executive Director, Construction Forum STL
Progress was reported on three pending St. Louis area hospital projects – two in Missouri and one in Metro East. Bids are due Friday for an expansion of SSM St. Joseph Hospital in Lake St. Louis. Construction teams are assembling for a proposed $90 million replacement hospital project at BJC West in Creve Coeur. And, the design/assist construction team on St. Elizabeth’s $253 million replacement hospital in O’Fallon, IL is proceeding full steam ahead.
Rendering of St. Elizabeth’s replacement hospital
The St. Elizabeth’s project has yet to receive a Certificate of Need (CON) from the Illinois Health Facilities and Services Review Board (IHFSRB). A vote is scheduled for April 21. A previous effort to gain approval for the CON failed by one vote.
Illinois Gov. Bruce Rauner appointed an O’Fallon businessman, Richard Burrow III in early March to fill a vacant seat on the IHFSRB. But Burrow resigned shortly after his appointment because a member of his family works in the healthcare industry.
Alberici is the general contractor on the project. The design/assist mechanical team is comprised of Guarantee Electrical, iCon Mechanical, and Franklin Plumbing.
The Illinois Health Facilities and Services Review Board currently has eight board members with one vacant seat. Three of the eight members have terms that expired on July 1, 2014. Board members with expired terms can still serve on the board at the will of the governor, until reappointed or a new appointment is made.
Citizens in the City of Belleville, where St. Elizabeth’s is currently located, have organized opposition to the relocation. The Belleville News-Democrat reported that Belleville Mayor Mark Eckert, who was concerned when he found out an O’Fallon man was appointed to the board, said he hopes state officials use “good judgment” when selecting someone else to serve on the board.
SSM St. Joseph’s Lake St. Louis project is scheduled to bid Friday. The 25,000-sq.-ft.-floor-plate, three-story addition will be erected over two existing floors. The third floor will be finished: floors four and five will be white-boxed. Alberici will serve as the general contractor. The project is part of an eight-year, $180 million program announced in 2013 by SSM Health Care intended to “transform and improve the health care experience for patients across St. Charles, Warren and Lincoln counties.”
BJC West’s planned replacement facility appears to be taking shape. Barnes-Jewish West County Hospital plans to erect a 16-bed hospice in the near term and replace its current outdated hospital at 12634 Olive Blvd with the construction of a new 96-bed facility.
In November, 2014 the Creve Coeur City Council passed an ordinance approving a conditional use permit for a 19,000-square-foot, 16-bed hospice on the southwest corner of its campus. The same ordinance also approved a new site concept plan for the hospital calling for the construction of a 264,000-square-foot hospital on the northwest corner of the hospital’s 54-acre campus, near Mason Road and Olive Boulevard. The development would be completed in phases over the next eight years.
According to the site concept plan, Barnes-Jewish West County Hospital also envisions putting up a five-story medical office building and a possible future parking deck. The concept plan also calls for adding another 16 beds in a second phase of construction on the hospice. Estimates of the projected cost were reported to be $90 million.
Design and construction teams are reportedly now being assembled to vie for award of the design phase of the hospital project. MEP is reported to be design/assist. At least two teams said to be submitting design proposals for the project were identified but were not confirmed at the time of this post.