Construction Updates
Patient Tower
St. John's 360,000-square-foot Patient Tower
will open in January 2008 and will add 110 beds to the hospital, bringing it
to the 866-bed total for which it is licensed. The tower will be connected
to the hospital by a central atrium and will include public meeting rooms,
Admitting and other services.
Twelve nursing units will eventually be located in the new tower.
As the hospital prepares for the grand
opening of the 21st-century facility, we’re also looking back on our rich
history in the Ozarks.
The Sisters of Mercy came to Springfield more
than 100 years ago and turned a small brick home on Washington Avenue into a
hospital with four patient rooms. The Sisters lacked medical equipment and
often walked many miles to care for patients who were too ill to come to the
hospital.
At the turn of the century, the Sisters addressed the growing need for staff
and equipment. In 1906, a new St. John's Hospital and nursing school opened
on North Main Street. Over the next half-century, Springfield grew and
expanded and so did the need for bigger and better medical facilities. The
Sisters of Mercy purchased the current 11-acre site at 1235 E. Cherokee for
a new 350-bed facility after World War II.
Expansion has continued rapidly at the East Cherokee location, now referred
to as St. John’s main campus, since the much-anticipated Sept. 24, 1952
opening. The hospital has grown into a health system, and health services
that the Sisters of Mercy could only dream about 100 years ago are now
reality.
In 2000, St. John’s began its largest single construction plan ever on the
main campus. These improvements to the hospital and other facilities on the
main campus anticipate the community’s medical needs for the next 20 years.
Many of these improvements have now been completed, and the opening of the
new Patient Tower will signify the near-completion of this extraordinary
multi-year undertaking.
The tower will include a history display illustrating St. Johns’ rich
heritage in the Ozarks. Organizers are hoping to find photographs and
memorabilia that represent the people, places and issues that shape the St.
John’s story and we are asking the community to contact us at 417-820-4447
or e-mail
stjohns.foundation@mercy.net if you
have items to donate or loan for the history display..
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