SOUTHEAST MISSOURI HOSPITAL STILL GROWING

The acquisition of 21.2 acres of land may some day give Southeast Missouri Hospital a prominent presence on the city's west side, where St. Francis Medical Center has been doing business for some 25 years.

Southeast announced last week that it has been given 4.2 acres of land from the F.J. and Lula Armstrong Heritage Trust and is purchasing another 17 acres from the trust.

The land is about a half-mile south of Mount Auburn Road and Highway 74 near Interstate 55 and is bounded by the new extension of Mount Auburn Road on the west and Silver Springs Road on the east. It is within a mile of Doctors' Park.

In announcing the purchase at a news conference on the site, Jim Wente, administrator and chief executive officer of Southeast, said the hospital intends to use the property for future expansion but has no specific plans. Instead, the hospital will study needs to determine how best the land should be used, he said.

Unlike St. Francis Medical Center, which closed the doors of its downtown location at Good Hope and Pacific after it built a new hospital on the west side, Southeast does not intend to move.

Since Southeast opened at 1701 Lacey Street in 1928, it has undergone 12 major expansions, and it recently purchased parcels fronting Broadway across from Capaha Park that have been cleared of buildings and turned into green space.

Wente said some outpatient services, clinics or care centers could eventually move to the new site, but there is no rush to do anything with the land.

He indicated development on the new site would likely be in a medical mall setting.

Regardless of what the hospital ends up doing with the land, establishing a presence on the developing west end would be advantageous to the hospital, particularly with St. Francis well-established there and Doctors' Park and Interstate 55 being so close.

It wasn't long ago that St. Francis and Southeast agreed to a merger plan, but the plan was blocked by the Missouri attorney general.

Now Southeast's land purchase demonstrates it plans to continue to grow, and competition between the two hospitals is keen once again. Southeast Missouri is fortunate to have two prosperous, growing hospitals.