ST. LOUIS HOSPITAL MERGER TOPIC OF OCT. 4

Marc Smith, a vice president with BJC Health System, formed by the consolidation of several St. Louis hospitals, will discuss the reasons behind the move at a public forum in Cape Girardeau on Oct. 4.

The Southeast Missouri Business Group on Health is holding the forum, which is open to the public. The forum will be held at 7 p.m. at the Drury Lodge.

Persons interested in attending are asked to RSVP by contacting the Business Group on Health office at 651-4688.

Smith is vice president of research, education and public policy for BJC Health System, and vice president for research affairs at the Jewish Hospital of St. Louis.

Barnes and Jewish hospitals, along with Christian Health Services, which has hospitals in the St. Louis suburbs, merged in 1993 to form BJC Health System.

The group recently added Missouri Baptist and St. Louis Children's Hospital to the system.

Barnes, Jewish and Christian hospitals all were strong financially at the time of the merger, with combined annual revenue of more than $1 billion.