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Memorial Hospital forms affiliation with BJC, adds new facility

Year in Review 2015: Southwestern Illinois
 
Memorial Hospital forms affiliation with BJC, adds new facility

By MELISSA CROCKETT MESKE
    Serving Belleville and the Metro East since 1958, Memorial Hospital is again strengthening its presence and its service offerings to patients throughout the region. After many months of due diligence, the hospital’s parent group and BJC HealthCare have now secured all federal and state approvals necessary to move ahead with their strategic affiliation.
    Memorial Group, Inc. is the parent organization of Memorial Hospital in Belleville, the newly constructed Memorial Hospital East in Shiloh, and six other subsidiary groups. Under this newly formed strategic affiliation, BJC HealthCare will affiliate with Memorial Hospital Belleville and Memorial Hospital East under the moniker of Memorial Regional Health Services.
    Current Memorial Group CEO Mark Turner will serve as president of Memorial Regional Health Services, with oversight to be provided by a jointly appointed board of directors.
    “This affiliation will provide expanded service offerings along with greater access to medical expertise and enhancements to the services we have already been providing,” said Turner. “As a result of our strategic affiliation with BJC, we will be able to meet the needs of the community more quickly, efficiently and effectively.”
    Turner said the market area for Memorial Regional Health Services, as well as the health-care industry overall, is in a constant change cycle. “We must plan for the future along with the here and now. Ensuring our patients have access to the very best care and facilities now and for generations to come is a significant part of our responsibility as a leading health-care provider.”
    Prompted by long-term planning that began in 2007, two significant factors stood out from an assessment of community health needs leading to the development of the new medical facility in Shiloh. Community stakeholders identified the need for all private patient suites along with an expanded service delivery area to encompass the O’Fallon and Shiloh regions.
    Memorial Hospital Belleville has more than 400 members on its medical staff representing 48 specialties and a workforce currently at 2,300. Memorial Hospital East will add to those numbers, with applications being accepted now for many of its openings. Applicants can visit www.memhospeast.com/employment to view opportunities.
    Construction of the new Memorial Hospital East in Shiloh is slightly ahead of schedule; many of its departments and staff have already begun moving in to the new facility. Holland-Pepper Joint Venture serves as the new facility’s general contractor.
    Memorial Hospital East will be a 207,000-square-foot, 94-bed full service hospital featuring private patient suites, an intensive care unit, cardiac catheterization labs, surgical suites, a 24/7 emergency department and a premier birthing center. Turner said the hospital expects to provide services to the first patient on April 12.

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