Mission Statement
General Facts
Message from the CEO
History
Mission Statement Back to Top
Saint Louis University Hospital exists for the glory of God and the health of God's people, in the Judeo-Christian and Jesuit traditions of service to others. We are an academic community dedicated to healing, teaching and research with a commitment to quality innovative care.
Saint Louis University Hospital is a regional leader providing tertiary-quaternary healthcare in the Tenet Healthcare Network, in conjunction with the physicians of the Saint Louis University School of Medicine. We are the primary teaching site for health professions' education for the University, training tomorrow's health care leaders. We engage the passion of our people in holistic care, respectful and inclusive of the uniqueness of each person.
OUR STATEMENT OF VALUES
- We believe human beings are sacred because of their origin and destiny and have a right to life and
a dignified death.
- We strive to treat each other, our patients and partners with respect and dignity and value the
diversity represented in the people we serve.
- We believe that job satisfaction, motivation and achievement are nurtured in a fair and equitable
environment, by challenge, autonomy, feedback and opportunities for personal growth, reward and
recognition.
- We will forge strong partnership to better serve the sick and injured who come to us for healing.
- We will provide a physical environment and support systems that encourage teaching, learning, and
research.
- We will be responsive and attentive to our patients' safety, comfort and alleviation of their pain.
- We will be people of integrity and honesty and always act from the highest ethical standards.
- We will achieve a level of excellence that is grounded in the dignity of each person we serve.
OUR VISION
We shall be a nationally recognized fiscally sound leader in quality, tertiary academic healthcare as well as a place where physicians and staff work with pride and joy because they are valued as a precious resource.
General Facts Back to Top
University-affiliated hospitals are known for being among those at the forefront of modern medicine. Doctors who teach at these hospitals use some of the newest and most promising treatments and technologies.
In this respect, 356-bed Saint Louis University Hospital is a typical "teaching hospital." It is not so typical in one important way: Saint Louis University Hospital is smaller than many. That means doctors, nurses and other health care professionals spend more time in tightly-knit teams, where they can gain a better understanding of the needs of their patients.
The results of this intimate environment are receiving national attention. The hospital has been ranked by U.S. News & World Report as one of America's best hospitals in several medical specialties, including:
- Digestive Disease
- Ear, Nose & Throat
- Geriatrics
- Heart
- Hormonal
- Kidney
- Orthopedics
- Respiratory
- Rheumatology (arthritis and connective tissue)
- Urology
Saint Louis University Hospital also has one of the most comprehensive transplant programs in the Midwest, offering kidney, kidney-pancreas, liver, bone and cornea transplant.
If you or a loved one become severely injured or ill, every minute counts. Saint Louis University Hospital is nearby, poised to deliver cutting-edge emergency care - 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year. The hospital is an ACS verified Level I Trauma Center certified in both Missouri and Illinois. With this certification, issued by the American College of Surgeons Committee on Trauma, Saint Louis University Hospital treats more than 2,200 major trauma cases each year.
Message From the CEO Back to Top
Welcome to Saint Louis University Hospital. Through our affiliation as the teaching hospital for the Saint Louis University School of Medicine, we provide to our patients and families an environment of medical innovation. As an academic medical center, we are among those at the forefront in providing medical treatments and procedures. We strive to be renowned for our ability to combine high-tech medicine with a compassionate, personal touch.
The strength that makes us special is our ability to recognize that, although we are an urban teaching hospital with the latest in medical technology, our medical staff and employees make the difference. We are smaller than many major medical centers (only 356 beds), and we see this as an advantage. At times, major academic medical centers can be overwhelming to patients and families. Our hospital is just the right size to allow our staff of doctors, nurses and other healthcare professionals to get to know each other well and form a close-knit team. It also allows us the ability to get to know our patients and families better.
We are extremely pleased to work with our medical staff, the SLUCare physicians, in providing excellent patient care and advanced technology. Each of SLUCare's physicians is involved in teaching tomorrow's health care professionals and researching the treatments of the future, as well as providing the latest in patient care both at Saint Louis University Hospital and on an outpatient basis.
As you visit our web site, we hope that you will discover that Saint Louis University Hospital is a community for healing where knowledge, compassion and deep spiritual values come together.
Phillip E. Sowa
Chief Executive Officer
History Back to Top
Our beginning dates back to 1927 and the efforts of Rev. Alphonse M. Schwitalla, then the dean of the Saint Louis University School of Medicine. His goal was to build a hospital on the medical school campus that would serve as a humanitarian health care facility to meet the needs of patients with modest means.
By 1930, through fund-raising efforts, $40,000 had been raised. In February 1930, the school received a $1 million bequest from the estate of Firmin Vincent Desloge. The year 1930 also brought a donation of $850,000 from Blanche Bordley, widow of Daniel C. Bordley. On the same day, another donation was received from the Desloge family. This gift of $100,000 from Lydia Desloge was designated to build a chapel next to the hospital. The hospital's cornerstone was laid on June 2, 1931.
On November 3, 1933, Firmin Desloge Hospital was officially dedicated. The hospital building was described as modified French Gothic architecture, rising 250 feet and is topped by a Gothic roof of copper-covered lead.
This original structure - renamed Desloge Towers - continues to serve our hospital as physician offices and administrative space. The original copper-covered roof proudly remains a St. Louis landmark and is a distinctive part of our city's skyline. There were 206 beds in the new hospital. Two-thirds of them were double-occupancy rooms and the rest were private rooms. This broke the tradition of large open wards, which were common at the time.
The hospital was originally operated under the auspices of the Sisters of St. Mary. In 1959, administration of Firmin Desloge Hospital shifted completely to Saint Louis University. At this time, Firmin Desloge Hospital, the Bordley Memorial Pavilion and the David P. Wohl Sr. Memorial Institute were collectively renamed Saint Louis University Hospitals.
Continuous growth and the need for modern facilities and equipment resulted in the construction of a new hospital facility as an addition to the original structure. This new part of the hospital was built directly behind the old Firmin Desloge Hospital at a cost of $39.1 million dollars. The first patients moved in on January 30, 1988, marking our current era as a leader in health care excellence.
In 1998, the hospital was purchased from Saint Louis University by Tenet HealthSystem, which also operates Des Peres Hospital (formerly Deaconess West Hospital). We are looking forward to our future as part of a health system that cares not only for St. Louisans, but for patients throughout the world.