Your article “When hospitals hit the road” (News, April 15) offered a one-sided perspective of St. Elizabeth’s Hospital’s plans to build a replacement hospital.
The article gave the impression that St. Elizabeth’s is seeking to build a new hospital to attain a better “payer mix.” There is nothing further from the truth. The reality is we are seeking to replace our 60-year-old obsolete hospital with a modern facility along Interstate 64 that will be easier to access for all our patients, including Medicaid clients and those without insurance.
Factual information — based on publicly available demographic and income statistics — proves that our mix of patients will not change. Our payer mix will remain almost identical, and we will actually be closer and provide easier access for residents living in communities in and around East St. Louis with the highest poverty rates in the region.
A study done by Deloitte confirmed this, showing our proposed relocation maintains our mission to continue to serve all people in St. Clair County. The facts and data do not indicate a shift away from a lower income population or toward a higher income population within our regional service area.
It is also worth noting that our neighbor in Belleville, Memorial Hospital, which is opposing our replacement hospital plans, received approval in 2011 for a satellite facility less than two miles from our proposed location along I-64. Memorial’s CEO said then that his hospital’s eight-mile move out of Belleville would not change its payer mix. A similar move will not change St. Elizabeth’s payer mix, and the facts confirm it.
St. Elizabeth’s has cared for the poor and sick in the metro east area for 140 years, and we intend to continue living that mission far into the future.
— Maryann Reese, president and CEO, St. Elizabeth’s Hospital, Belleville, Ill.
