Saint Francis Medical Center, Cape city set to prescribe new policing effort

Saint Francis Healthcare System plans to pay the salaries and benefits of five additional Cape Girardeau police officers, who will provide round-the-clock law enforcement at the medical center’s main campus.

The Cape Girardeau City Council is expected to approve an agreement with Saint Francis Medical Center (SFMC) at its meeting today.

The medical center is part of the health care system.

Gerry Salter, vice president for the Healthcare System’s specialty practices, wrote in an email, “We want to continue to provide a safe campus for visitors, patients and employees. This is consistent with other forward-thinking health care systems striving to achieve the same goal.”

The agreement spells out costs for the first two years. At least 90 days before the end of the second year, the city will propose a budget for the third year. The city and SFMC then would enter into discussions about continuing the program, according to terms of the proposed agreement.

Police chief Wes Blair said Tuesday the hiring of five new officers will allow for one to two officers to be on duty at the medical center at any one time.

SFMC will incur the cost of equipping the officers and will purchase a patrol vehicle, which would be stationed on the medical center campus, Blair said.

Under the agreement, SFMC would pay more than $281,000 in salaries, benefits, uniform and equipment costs for the officers, and purchase and outfitting of a patrol vehicle.

Costs for the second year are listed at more than $216,000, according to the proposed agreement.

Starting salaries for the officers are listed at $37,625. With benefits, the cost will be more than $47,000 for each officer. Uniform and equipment costs for each officer will push the total cost per officer to nearly $53,000 for the first year of the agreement.

The officers will be city employees and will not supplant the security functions of the medical center’s security officers, Blair wrote in a report to the council.

“The role of the assigned police officers will be limited to the performance of law enforcement-related functions only and will not be acting as agents of SFMC to enforce hospital rules and regulations,” Blair wrote.

Cape Girardeau police officers are routinely dispatched to the medical center for law enforcement calls, including investigation of assaults, sexual assaults, disturbances and other crimes, according to Blair.

“It is a common practice throughout the nation for hospitals the size of SFMC and larger to contract for the services” of city police officers, he wrote.

SFMC officials proposed the plan to the city, Blair said.

“The main benefit (for the city) would be that it frees an officer up that would normally have to be dispatched to Saint Francis for calls or service,” he said.

“Saint Francis is in a patrol zone. So now it takes Saint Francis out of that patrol zone,” he added.

Once the council approves the agreement, the city can start the hiring process, Blair said.

“It could be a couple of months before we have somebody there,” he said. “We may phase it in as we get people hired.”

Do you like stories about government and courts? Keep up with the latest news by signing up for our daily morning headline email. Go to www.semissourian.com/newsletters to find out more.