CAPITAL DRIVE'S COMMUNITY PORTION BEGINS

More than 50 community leaders gathered at Southeast Missouri Hospital Monday for the official kickoff of the community portion of a $1.7 million capital campaign to support the hospital's East Clinical Services Building project.

Serving as co-chairmen of the community support segment of the campaign are Kevin Ford, vice president of Ford and Sons Funeral Home, and Jeanne Goodman, vice president of Boatmen's Bank of Cape Girardeau.

Section leaders are Kirk Williams for Jackson and Bart Ozbun for Cape Girardeau. Williams is sales coordinator with Mid America Hotels Corp., and Ozbun is an investment counselor with Boatmen's Bank.

The capital campaign is being conducted by the Southeast Missouri Hospital Foundation on behalf of the hospital.

"The goal for the community segment of the campaign is $340,000," said Foundation Director J. Charles Stotz. "Community support has been an integral part of Southeast Missouri Hospital since we opened in 1928. We hope that the community partnership we've had the past 64 years will continue to help us build toward an exciting future in health care developments and services."

Stotz said the response from the hospital "family" to the campaign has been "very positive." As of mid-June, $747,000 had been pledged toward the $1.7 million goal. That amount includes pledges of $148,000 from hospital employees ($23,000 over goal) and $173,000 from the Board of Trustees ($42,000 over goal). The community portion of the campaign will continue until August 1.

Construction on the $19 million East Clinical Services Building is under way. The four-level, 105,000-square-foot structure will increase by 40 percent the 250,000- square-feet Southeast has under roof now. It will house new Emergency Services and Radiology Departments; expanded surgery services (including four new operating rooms); cardiology services and clinical lab services; and a new heliport and support services for LifeBeat, the hospital's emergency air medical service. The building will be ready for occupancy in the spring of 1995.