Major Surgery Begins at St. Francis Medical

St. Francis Medical Center, which mostly provides hospital care for low-income residents of several Southeast cities, has broken ground for a key facility in a $114-million construction program to upgrade the entire medical complex.

St. Francis officials held the ground-breaking ceremony last week for a $42-million health facility that will include heart, cancer and surgery centers. Construction of the Health Services Pavilion is scheduled to begin in mid-1989 and is expected to be completed in 1991.

“People think we are crazy to be doing this in Lynwood on Imperial Highway,” said Sister Elizabeth Joseph Keaveney, president and chief executive officer of the 515-bed medical center. “But our mission is to serve the poor.”

More than 85% of the medical center’s patients receive government assistance, including Medicare or Medi-Cal benefits, Keaveney said. Government reimbursements provide the majority of the center’s revenues, she said. About 5% of the patients are unable to pay, she added.

Community leaders and medical experts applauded the hospital’s effort to open the facility during a period of rising medical costs and decreasing state and federal funding.

“You would not expect an urban hospital to be undertaking a massive building campaign today. The economics are really not there but they are meeting their social mandate,” said Robert Myrtle, associate professor of USC’s Health Services Administration.

In some areas of Southern California there are too many hospitals and empty beds, said David Langness, vice president of communications for the Hospital Council of Southern California. “But that is not the case for everyone,” he said. “Many hospitals, like St. Francis, are full or nearly full to capacity and have a need to expand.

“I think it is terrific St. Francis is doing this. It is really needed for the poor.”

Lynwood City Councilman Robert Henning said the building activity “will have a positive impact on the community. It will create jobs but I’m not sure how many.” The hospital, which has 1,500 employees and 400 physicians, is the city’s largest employer.

The 4-story, 156,000-square-foot Health Services Pavilion is part of a $114-million construction program to replace the entire 43-year-old facility over the next 10 years, said Margaret D’Ambrosia, senior vice president of corporate development. The medical center is located on 13 acres at Imperial Highway and Century Boulevard. The facility will also have a rooftop heliport to accommodate emergency runs. At present, officials must close part of the road in front of the hospital to allow helicopters to land.

As part of the master plan, a $7-million power plant was built recently on the site and a 4-story, $5-million parking garage is almost complete. The project will include beds for intensive-care patients. Another $60 million is earmarked for facilities for patients, and a medical office building.

St. Francis Medical Center is run by the Daughters of Charity of St. Vincent de Paul. The group is a member of the Daughters of Charity National Health System, which includes 54 Catholic hospitals throughout the nation.

The hospital will receive a loan of about $37 million from its national organization, which is based in St. Louis, to help finance the pavilion. The remaining $5 million is expected to be generated through fund-raising efforts, Keaveney said.

Most of the patients served by St. Francis live in the Southeast communities of Lynwood, Compton, South Gate, Bell, Bell Gardens, Huntington Park, Bellflower, Maywood, Cudahy and Downey, and in a portion of north Long Beach and Watts.