Mercy South to Break Ground on $75 Million Emergency Department Expansion and Redesign

Feb. 27, 2025, Update

The start of major construction for Mercy South’s Emergency Department expansion is about to begin. Patients, visitors and co-workers need to be aware of the following changes that are now in place as part of this project:

• The emergency entrance is now temporarily located at the main entrance, which is under the blue awning facing Kennerly Road and accessible using the circle drive. Once inside the main lobby, emergency patients and visitors will enter the first door on their right to access the Emergency Department check-in and waiting room.
• EMS crews bringing patients to the Emergency Department by ambulance are now using a temporary EMS entrance located on the west wall of the Emergency Department. This entrance is along the main drive facing the Sindelar Cancer Center.
• A portion of the main drive has been narrowed to one lane and restricted to one-way ambulance only traffic to allow EMS crews to access the temporary EMS entrance. This restricted area of the main drive is located between the hospital and the Sindelar Cancer Center.
• Drivers needing to travel between the north (Kennerly Road) side of campus and the south (Schuessler Road) side of campus will need to take the marked detour on the existing road around the Sindelar Cancer Center.
• The parking lot located closest to the emergency entrance is permanently closed as this space will be used for the expanded footprint of the Emergency Department.
• A portion of the parking lot located near the Emergency Department and main entrance remains temporarily closed.
• The parking spaces that are now the closest spaces to the main entrance and emergency entrance have been restriped as disabled-accessible parking spaces. This location will continue to serve as disabled-accessible parking until the temporarily closed parking area is reopened.
• New fencing is in place to block off construction zones.
• New signage is in place to help navigate these changes on campus.

Patients and visitors are encouraged to take advantage of our free valet service, which is available weekdays under the blue awning at the main and emergency entrance. Our volunteers also provide a free shuttle service to and from the north (Kennerly Road) parking lots in our new fully enclosed GEM shuttles.

We ask everyone who visits Mercy South to please use caution while navigating campus for the safety of all patients, visitors, construction workers and Mercy co-workers. We encourage everyone to enter campus from the side nearest their destination.

Sept. 26, 2024, Announcement

In order to meet the growing needs of its community, Mercy Hospital South is expanding and redesigning its entire emergency department. A ceremonial groundbreaking kicks off the project on Thursday, Sept. 26, including a blessing by Archbishop Mitchell Rozanski.

The $75 million dollar redesign will expand the existing emergency department from 39,000 square feet to 65,000 square feet. The additional space will enable caregivers to better serve patients by providing:

Mercy South is already one of the busiest emergency departments in the St. Louis region with more than 67,000 visits in fiscal year 2024. It currently treats about 1,000 more patients per month compared to the previous year at the same time with EMS crews delivering more patients by ambulance and helicopter.

“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.”

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. It is the closest stroke center for every patient south of St. Louis County all the way to the Arkansas border.

“We are committed to using our resources to invest in the communities we serve,” Hogan said. “We need increased access to emergency care. It’s an important step to improving the overall health of our community and a major commitment by Mercy to provide care where it is needed.”

The project is scheduled to take about two and a half years, with completion expected in spring 2027. The emergency department will remain open and serve patients throughout construction. Ambulances will be directed to a temporary ambulance entrance for portions of the project. Patients arriving by car will be directed to a new, temporary emergency entrance with a temporary waiting area.

To create the additional space for the expansion, 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. 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.