St. Mary's schedules open houses for new hospital

The new St. Mary's hospital in Jefferson City is scheduled to have its first business day on Nov. 16. But it plans to give the public a sneak peek at the new hospital with open house events Nov. 1 and 2.

From 3:30-7 p.m. on Saturday, Nov. 1, and noon-5 p.m. on Sunday, Nov. 2, all the rooms of the new facility will be open to the public, said Tracy O'Rourke, system vice president for strategy and marketing for SSM Health.

The new hospital's operating room will also be open so people can see the new technology and designs that will be implemented. The attendees will be on a self-guided tour through the entire hospital, but staff for the facility will be stationed throughout the building to answer any questions people may have, O'Rourke said.

In the next few weeks, there will be a series of dedications and blessings of the new building and multiple events to mark the occasion, such as the first Mass in the hospital's chapel. The administrators of the new building have been preparing for these events since they first began construction after the groundbreaking ceremony in 2012, O'Rourke said.

All the rooms in the new facility will be private, except for those in the behavioral health unit. The emergency department will have 26 treatment rooms, two trauma and resuscitation rooms and three triage rooms. There also will be 108 acute care rooms, 12 intensive care rooms and 20 behavioral health rooms that are part of the total 178 potential patient beds.

As for the old building, the hospital is still working with its real estate agent, Samsone, and exploring options with them and others on how to use the building. It is still for sale, and there are no firm plans for the property at this moment, O'Rourke said.

The plans were to donate the complex to the state so Lincoln University and the State Technical College of Missouri, Linn, could take over a part of it for nursing and medical-related educational programs.

However, Gov. Jay Nixon in June vetoed the funds needed to renovate the facility, and the administration stopped negotiating with St. Mary's over the terms of the donation. The possibility of rekindling the deal for donation was never mentioned at the Sept. 10 veto session.

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St. Mary's to unveil statue Friday