St. Francis remains committed to growth

Special to the Southeast Missourian

Bringing this region the latest in medical advancements is a mission St. Francis Medical Center has remained committed to for more than 125 years. Beginning as a 12-bed hospital in 1875, St. Francis has since grown to a 264-bed regional tertiary medical center.

"We are the regional referral center for communities in a five-state area," said Steven C. Bjelich, president and CEO. "Families throughout the region and their community hospitals look to us for nationally-respected medical programs that match the expertise of that found in St. Louis or Memphis."

St. Francis' excellence has been confirmed by its repeated achievement of national accolades.

National recognition

For the second time, St. Francis' orthopaedic services has received a five-star rating for its total knee and hip replacement surgery services from Healthgrades.com, a healthcare information resource site. The St. Francis Neuroscience Institute's excellence has also been confirmed, specifically in stroke services, by its ranking as a Top 100 Hospital for Stroke Care by HCIA-Sachs Institute.

St. Francis was also awarded a near perfect score of 97 percent by The Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations. It is an independent organization that measures quality standards in comparison with other similar sized medical centers nationwide.

Future milestones

While the medical center has achieved such high accolades, St. Francis does not rest on its laurels. Setting its sights on future milestones, last year it unveiled a $48 million, multiphase master facilities plan that supports the medical center's long-range strategic plans. The end result will yield additional surgical suites, new diagnostic services and facilities, a centralized Outpatient Care Center, plus expansion of the Family BirthPlace and Level III Neonatal Intensive Care Unit.

"Expansion is the logical next step in elevating the standard of care in our communities and preparing for the challenges healthcare will face as a result of an aging population," Bjelich said. "Expansion is also necessary as we introduce services that fill a regional void, for example our Level III Neonatal Intensive Care Unit."

St. Francis Medical Center is home to the region's only Level III Neonatal Intensive Care Unit staffed by board-certified, fellowship trained neonatalogists. Due to the area's increased patient volumes, the master facilities plan will expand the Level III NICU to add more space to accommodate the need for additional equipment.

St. Francis is also planning to break ground this summer to build the St. Francis Health and Wellness Center, a one-of-a-kind facility for the region. The center will house medically focused programs, including: Center for Health and Rehabilitation, a fitness center, a diabetes center, cardiopulmonary rehabilitation, the Wellness Department, Biometrics, Frappier Acceleration and a medical office building for various specialists.

The center will also offer medical supervision by a qualified staff to ensure each person receives the care they need to meet their wellness goals. While it will offer similar services as that of the Universal Health and Fitness Center, it will also have a 25-yard lap pool, a warm water pool, and aerobics studio and more. Construction of the center is expected to be complete and open to the public by the end of 2004.

While there is much planned for the future, St. Francis has already accomplished some of its expansion goals -- one being the addition of a new endovascular suite. Designed with guidance of cardiothoracic and vascular surgeon John C. Wiggans, MD, FACS, the suite is equipped to manage high-tech, minimally invasive procedures, such as abdominal aortic aneurysm stent grafting. The suite also quickly converts to an open heart surgical suite if needed.

Another addition has been a Positron Emission Tomography (P.E.T.) scanner, one of only six in Missouri used for clinical purposes. The images a P.E.T. scanner provides are of metabolic activity, as opposed to images of the body's physical structures, which can reveal some diseases earlier than other techniques such as CT and MRI.

Community partnerships

Beyond bricks and mortar, St. Francis recently announced the addition of a new radiology department to the St. Francis Cancer Institute. St. Francis partnered with nationally respected radiation oncologist Tapan Roy, MD, previously director of Radiation Oncology at St. Louis University School of Medicine, to bring the service to Cape Girardeau. St. Francis' radiation oncology program will introduce to the area Intensity Modulated Radiation Therapy (IMRT) capabilities.The IMRT linear accelerator is the most precise and sophisticated radiation treatment in the world for many cancers.

"The partnership between Dr. Roy and St. Francis Medical Center is consistent with our mission," Bjelich said. "To create a collaborative partnership with others, we offer a total concept of healing, providing for the needs of our community and each person we serve."

Another collaboration of the medical center is its recent partnership with the physician group Poplar Bluff Medical Partners in Poplar Bluff, Mo. Together they aim to build an innovative medical campus comprising of the physician group's existing diagnostic imaging center, an ambulatory surgery center and a new medical office building.

Eventually, the partners will apply for a Certificate of Need for a new 35-bed acute care hospital in Poplar Bluff.

"The physician group approached us out of concern for the quality of care available in their community and we responded. It's a natural fit as it allows our Medical Center to extend its mission," Bjelich said.

By forming partnerships, such as in Poplar Bluff, and investing in new technologies and expanded facilities, "we are insuring the progress of health care in this region," Bjelich said. "By remaining a state-of-the-art medical provider, we continue to attract new, high quality physicians who bring with them the latest techniques in medicine. And that's a benefit to us all."