As St. John's Hospital  nears its 50th anniversary at Cherokee and National, a multi-year plan, to bring what is now St. John's Health System into the 21st century, is being finalized.

In what Bill Syler, facilities administrator, calls the largest single construction plan ever undertaken by St. John's, the plan includes a new medical office building and ambulatory surgery center; new parking facility; an additional inpatient tower, ambulatory entrance and facilities in the hospital; traffic loop within the campus; hospital expansion on the northeast side; meetings rooms and education facilities; a new Emergency Trauma Center on the west side of the hospital and better accessibility for all other hospital and physician services.

There are also plans for the Smith-Glynn-Callaway location and other sites.

"The plan incorporates a lot of ideas on what the public perceives as good health care," Syler explains. "Patient needs have changed and so facilities must be designed to meet those needs to provide quality care that is pleasing and efficient."

The master plan will be the result of anticipating community, employee and physician needs over the next 10 to 20 years. Syler and a team of employees have conducted dozens of meetings both within and outside the health system to gather input and formulate a plan.

"We talked with physician leaders, nursing staff, service lines and basically anyone and everyone who felt they had ideas to contribute," Syler says. "We asked them their perception of health care facilities, our strengths, our weaknesses, opportunities and threats. Then we asked them to evaluate what their particular needs for the future are. It was those ideas that we put into the facility scheme."

St. John's hired Christner Inc., a St. Louis architectural and engineering firm with years of experience in master planning, to spearhead the research and design.

The initial drawings have been revised numerous times as various groups provide further review and refinement. Plans continue to change as needs are identified.

Foremost on the list of concerns are physical changes to improve accessibility for patients and work spaces for health care providers, accommodating growth of services to meet population needs and recreating facilities to meet the expectations for tomorrow's patients.

"Not doing anything, not growing with the medical needs of the community is a guaranteed loss," explains Syler. "This project will more than make up for the additional dollars spent because of better patient care and efficiency of care."

In a tight labor market where most hospitals like St. John's have a shortage of nurses, it becomes imperative that staff be as efficient as possible. The definition of efficiency does not mean job cutbacks, Syler points out. Both Syler and Jon Swope, hospital president, expect growth in all areas.

"We've always been a quality health care provider. This allows us to give that same quality in a surrounding that is completely supportive of employees, patients and the community," Syler says. "We're working toward a scenario where everyone wins."

Missouri's nine-member Certificate of Need committee gave St. John's the go-ahead for its master plan at a Sept. 24, 2001 hearing in Jefferson City.