Why is an O’Fallon hospital leasing a former restaurant in Fairview Heights?
There’s been a sudden surge of activity inside and out of the shuttered Cheddar’s Scratch Kitchen restaurant in Fairview Heights.
As of just over a week ago, HSHS St. Elizabeth’s Hospital in O’Fallon temporarily leased the former restaurant to prepare patients’ meals.
Although influenza hospitalizations are high locally and statewide, the move is due to construction rather than any urgent patient overflow situation. St. Elizabeth’s Hospital is in the midst of multiple major construction projects totaling $116 million, and an already in-progress inpatient bed expansion has displaced the hospital’s kitchen.
“We have leased that building, and have fully updated the kitchen in that building,” Chris Klay, CEO of HSHS’ Southern Illinois market, said Wednesday. “So it’s obviously a licensed commercial kitchen that’s been certified and approved through the appropriate agencies to deem compliance, and so we are now utilizing that space as the temporary kitchen for St. Elizabeth’s Hospital.”
Patients’ food is being prepared at the former Cheddar’s location and transported to the hospital, where it’s then further prepared, plated and served, Klay added.
“We have had no disruptions in deployment of food to our patients,” Klay said.
Overall, St. Elizabeth Hospital’s clinical expansion will create 32 additional inpatient hospital beds, eight new emergency department treatment rooms and more, with an estimated completion date around August 2027. Other portions of the renovations, including a new 70,000-square-foot medical office building and outpatient surgery center, are expected to be complete closer to September of this year.
Long-term, St. Elizabeth’s will add a new onsite kitchen, serving area and a dining area to the hospital, but the former Cheddar’s location is proving to be a great temporary solution, Klay said.
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This story was originally published January 16, 2026 at 5:30 AM.
