Christner’s strategic facility plan for St. John’s Health System was instrumental in defining the future role of the main hospital campus as a tertiary care hub and clarifying the distribution of primary care services throughout the region. Our planning process included input from the hospital’s leaders, physicians and staff as a foundation for understanding competitive factors, preferred delivery models, and community outreach goals. We also identified the facility investment strategy necessary to meet these goals.

A key principal of the plan is to consolidate specialty services at the main campus in state-of-the-art facilities. A new Ambulatory Surgery Center accommodates high-volume specialty practices and provides surgeons with six outpatient OR’s in the same building as their offices. This creates an efficient work environment for physicians and also relieves capacity in the main hospital inpatient surgery.

Additional campus facility improvements address emergency and inpatient care. The Emergency Trauma and Imaging Center meets increased service demand, provides flexibility for the newest imaging technology, and improves critical adjacencies. A new 289-bed patient tower replaces outdated rooms and increases private room capacity. By “right-sizing” campus facilities at the 640-bed hospital, St. John’s is responding to changing delivery models and strengthening the specialty services that drive patient volume. Campus renewal (buildings, site and wayfinding) reinforces the hospital’s image as the preferred regional referral destination.

Size: Planning for 13-county regional health system
Status: 2000 - 2008
Awards: 2004 Honor Award for Planning
American Society of Landscape Architects - St. Louis Chapter