ST. LOUIS COUNTY —  Mercy South broke ground on a $75 million emergency department expansion.

“I worked in many ED’s," said Dr. John Mohart, President of Community Operations, "I understand the importance of an ED, people come there with life-threatening conditions, chronic conditions they need help for, and we need to rise to the occasion and be able to serve them. So really this ED is critical for who we are at Mercy.”

Project plans include redesigning and expanding on the existing emergency department from 39,000 square feet to 65,000 square feet.

The additional space will allow for:

  • 73 patient beds, up from 61
  • 6 trauma bays, each twice the size of existing ones
  • A 13-bed behavioral health area
  • Larger waiting area
  • Smaller pods of rooms, similar to an ICU, which will provide nurses direct line of sight to each patient

Mercy South has had more than 67,000 visits in fiscal 2024, making it one of the busiest emergency departments in the St. Louis region.

“Mercy South is a pillar in the community and provides exceptional care,” said Mark Merlotti, Mercy South Board of Directors, “On a typical day here we see 100 ambulance transports and one helicopter transports to our ED, daily. So you can imagine the volume of that.” This hospital treats about 1,000 more patients per month in 2024 compared to 2023 at the same time according to Mercy.

“It’s going to allow us to meet the growing needs of no longer only Mercy South but all east corridor of (I-55) providing the care our population needs,” said Dr. Mayoral Juarez, internal medicine.

Archbishop Mitchell Rozanski held a blessing for the land moments before he and Mercy employees broke ground on the expansion.

The project is scheduled to take two and a half years to complete with an expected target for spring 2027.  

Mercy South is a comprehensive stroke center, the only Missouri designated Level 1 stroke center and Level 1 STEMI (heart attack) center and trauma center serving south St. Louis County, according to the press release. It is the closest stroke center for every patient south of St. Louis County all the way to the Arkansas border.

“Not only are we seeing more patients coming to us for care, more patients are acutely ill,” said Sean Hogan, Mercy South president. “We’re seeing significant increases in the number of stroke, heart attack and trauma patients seeking care at Mercy South.

“This redesign will help us continue the high-quality care we provide, improve patient experience and meet the growing needs of our community.”

The footprint of the emergency department will be extended north toward Kennerly Road into what is currently the emergency department parking lot, requiring the closure of that lot and reassignment of some parking spaces. 

"We know that there will be disruption over the next three years," said Janette Kirkpatrick, Chief Nurse Officer who said the staff is ready, "they have been part of the plans, they know the design, they know the technology, and they know what this will mean for their workflows as well as the care we’ll be providing to our community."

The press release states that to provide space for construction crews, the main drive will be temporarily narrowed from the existing four lanes to one lane in one direction, restricted to ambulance traffic only. Detours around this restricted area will be in place to allow patients, visitors and co-workers to reach every part of campus. However, drivers are strongly encouraged to enter campus on the same side as their destination.

Enter from Kennerly Road if you are going to visit:

  • The emergency department
  • The main hospital entrance
  • Medical office building (MOB) A and B, 10004 Kennerly Road
  • The Sindelar Cancer Center, 10050 Kennerly Road
  • Mercy Rehabilitation Hospital South, 10114 Kennerly Road

Enter from Schuessler Road if you are going to visit:

  • The heart hospital
  • Physician office center (POC), 10012 Kennerly Road
  • The Endoscopy Center
  • The pharmacy
  • Preadmission screening
  • The discharge lounge
  • Hyland Behavioral Health, 10018 Kennerly Road
  • The de Greeff Hospice House, 10024 Kennerly Road