St. Louis-area hospitals look east for expansion

Hospital expansion plans in the Metro East have inspired a debate on the best way to serve areas of population growth along the Interstate 64 corridor. Memorial Hospital in Belleville jumped in front of the eastward expansion last week when its plans to build a 94-bed hospital in Shiloh were approved. Memorial Hospital-East, at Frank Scott Parkway and Cross Street, is expected to cost $118 million and open in 2016. A few days before the Illinois Health Facilities and Services Review Board approved Memorial's expansion, Hospital Sisters Health System announced plans to purchase a nearby 105-acre property across I-64 in O'Fallon. Hospital Sisters, which operates St. Elizabeth's Hospital in Belleville, said a full-service hospital was an option for the property.