The 436,000-square-foot, $236-million St. Clare Health Center, located at the intersection of Highway 141 and Bowles Avenue, will house 154 hospital beds, a 24-hour emergency department, an outpatient care center, medical office building and medical/surgical services including heart, cancer, orthopedics and women's services. Construction began in 2006.
With the help of a $55,000 grant from the Home Depot Foundation, the development of the St. Clare facility included a state-of-the-art green roof. Low-maintenance foliage was planted on the roof in order to provide better drainage and storm water retention, as well as create a layer of added insulation and help improve air quality in the area. The 54-acre campus was designed to feel less like a hospital and more inviting to patients with landscaping that includes water features and wooded areas.
"Our goal is to redesign the healthcare experience, from the ground up, for patients, physicians and staff," says James Sanger, president and CEO of SSM Health Care-St. Louis, in a statement. "Without question, this is not going to be your traditional, cut-from-the-same-mold hospital."
According to earlier reports, the construction of St. Clare Health Center cost almost $50 million more than SSM Health Care originally planned. The costs, which jumped from $188.5 million to $236 million, were due primarily to unforeseen cost escalations, new seismic standards and the addition of 56,254 square feet of space.
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