ST. LOUIS – April 4, 2006 – SSM Health Care received zoning approval last night from the St. Louis County Council for the property at Bowles Avenue and Highway 141 where SSM St. Clare Health Center will be constructed.

The property will remain zoned C-8, which will allow for future expansions to the hospital and health care campus. SSMHC-St. Louis will break ground on SSM St. Clare Health Center in June; the hospital is scheduled to open in early 2009.

The 158-bed SSM St. Clare Health Center will be the cornerstone of a 54-acre health care campus that will feature a patient-focused, healing environment inside and out.  The facility will provide the latest clinical technology and information systems to support a full range of services, including a 24-hour emergency department and comprehensive medical/surgical services.  The campus will include a convenient outpatient care center offering one-stop service with close-in parking, and doctor’s offices.
 
About SSM Health Care
With 8 hospitals, nearly 2,000 staff physicians and 11,000 employees, SSM Health Care-St. Louis is committed to serving the comprehensive health needs of St. Louis area residents.  Sponsored by the Franciscan Sisters of Mary, the health care network includes: SSM Cardinal Glennon Children's Medical Center; SSM DePaul Health Center; SSM St. Joseph Health Center (St. Charles); SSM St. Joseph Health Center-Wentzville; SSM St. Joseph Hospital West (Lake Saint Louis); SSM St. Joseph Hospital of Kirkwood; SSM St. Mary's Health Center and SSM Rehab. The health care network also includes three medical groups: SSM St. Charles Clinic Medical Group, SSM Medical Group and SSM DePaul Medical Group. Its parent organization, SSM Health Care, also based in St. Louis, in 2002 became the first health care recipient of the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award. The system owns, operates and manages hospitals and nursing homes in four states: Missouri, Illinois, Wisconsin and Oklahoma.