Chamber Award winner: Memorial East honored for its economic impact

With three years of construction under its belt, and a $124 million investment later — Memorial Hospital East is not only having “a significant economic impact” on the local metro-east, but also will continue to facilitate a thriving community for Shiloh and O’Fallon, according to local leaders.

There’s already people on site working there, not to mention all the workers shuffling in over the past couple of years while the facility was under construction who patronize the area’s restaurants and stores, John Marquart, Shiloh village administrator pointed out.

“Only time will tell, but I think without question, the new hospital will be a huge positive for our local area,” John Marquart, Shiloh Village administrator, said.

Ruth Holmes, RN, project manager for Memorial Hospital East and its new administrator, said she’s ecstatic for the honor bestowed upon Memorial East by the O’Fallon-Shiloh Chamber of Commerce for the 2016 Business Award for Economic Impact.

“We are very pleased and honored to be chosen by the chamber for this award. Memorial Hospital East represents a significant investment in the community and region and this validation of our commitment to meeting community need. Memorial Hospital East certainly will serve as a catalyst for economic growth for the region,” Holmes said.

Memorial Hospital Group’s mission healthcare access, excellence and leadership began in 1958 when the hospital opened its doors to Belleville at the main campus, she said.

“We look forward to serving the healthcare needs of this region for many years to come,” Holmes said.

In addition to bringing a first-class healthcare facility to the Shiloh-O’Fallon communities, Memorial Hospital East brings numerous jobs to the area.

Memorial East is expected to usher 700 new jobs over the course of the next few years for its satellite hospital in Shiloh.

Not only will there be a spike in local job creation, but it is also expected to generate more shops, retail and restaurants now, and down the line to the area.

“Those folks all starting new positions at the hospital and patients and their families will be driving vehicles in to O’Fallon and/or Shiloh, which means more gas sales, and more people buying groceries and eating out at local eateries, too,” Marquart said.

Since acquiring 94 acres of land at Frank Parkway and Cross Street in Shiloh for future development in 2008, Memorial Group Inc. and Metro-East Services Inc. has been making strides toward bringing a new hospital at 1404 Cross St. in Shiloh on time just as promised — April 2016.

In 2011, Illinois Health Facilities and Services Review Board (IHRSRB) approved Memorial’s Certificate of Need application, making this only the third new hospital project approved by the state in more than 20 years.

By mid-December 2013, the Southwestern Illinois Development Authority issued Memorial Group Inc. $164 million in tax-exempt bonds for the new facility and to refinance existing indebtedness clearing the way for the project to begin moving earth in April 2013, and putting in the footings and foundations for the five-floor hospital in January 2014 even though it was bitter cold outdoors.

The facility boasts 208,000 square feet with about 1,300 rock piers were drilled 15 to 30 feet into the ground for support of the approximate 1,600 tons of steel and 7,400 cubic yards of concrete, not to mention the 75,000 square feet of brick, glazing stone and metal panels for the building’s facade.

Shiloh Village Engineer Norm Etling noted that while the site preparation, design, planning and construction, plus certification and permit process is an arduous one for those at the helm of the project, time flew by and now it’s officially gotten the double thumbs up from the IDPH and the village.

“There was a lot of moving parts for this project, and the O’Fallon Fire Rescue Inspector Harris and others like Sue Gruenke, Holmes’ assistant, were instrumental in getting the occupancy permit and business licensing applications in, and finalized last week,” Etling said. “We had great cooperation all around, and naturally a project of this magnitude takes a little more attention to detail.”

Eric Harris, O’Fallon Fire Department Safety Educator and Inspector, said the Illinois Department of Public Health requirements are more stringent and their codes exceed that of local fire department regulation. Harris performed the required fire safety inspection less than a week prior to the facility’s open house. O’Fallon Fire Department encompasses the Shiloh Valley Fire District.

“A project such as Memorial Hospital East’s starting from the ground up can be a long, continuous process but everything with construction and the contractors and subcontractors went well and smoothly,” Harris said.

“They were cooperative and made my job a lot easier,” he said.

In March 2012, Holmes, was selected as the administrator of the new facility.

“Our mission is to deliver exceptional healthcare and compassionate service while remaining a community constant as we officially begin a new chapter in Memorial’s history,” she said.

O’Fallon Community Development Director Ted Shekell said he looks forward to both St. Elizabeth’s Hospital, still under construction in O’Fallon, and Memorial Hospital East, opened Tuesday in Shiloh, and seeing how they will affect the local community and economy.

“We’re very excited about Memorial Hospital East next door, and although it’s not in O’Fallon I’m sure a lot our residents will work there and even employees and residents be patients there too,” Shekell said.

“We’re thrilled they are going to be a neighbor to us, and Memorial Hospital East will surely make a great addition to the O’Fallon and Shiloh area,” Shekell said.

This story was originally published April 14, 2016 at 11:18 AM with the headline "Chamber Award winner: Memorial East honored for its economic impact."