Mercy announced plans to build a new $650 million hospital in Wentzville near the intersection of Interstates 70 and 64, citing a suburban population boom.
The Chesterfield-based Catholic health system on Friday submitted a letter of intent to build the 75-bed facility to Missouri’s Department of Health and Senior Services, which oversees and regulates the construction of new hospitals.
“Now is the time to invest in the future and better serve our patients closer to home. Our data shows us many Mercy patients travel, sometimes more than an hour, from Lincoln and Warren counties into St. Louis County,” Mercy President and CEO Steve Mackin said in a press release. “The need for this facility, while significant today, will only increase as projected growth continues.”
Mercy officials say skyrocketing population growth means a new hospital would be needed in the far suburbs of St. Louis. While the population in the metro area has decreased, the number of people living in St. Charles, O’Fallon, St Charles County and Wentzville has increased.
Wentzville’s population — more than 47,000 in 2022, according to the U.S. Census — has risen more than 60% since 2010.
Before hospitals in Missouri can be built, health systems must file a certificate of need to state regulators that shows the population in a given area would benefit from the construction of a new facility. A letter of intent to the state health department is the first step in this process.
Officials will host public discussions with residents during development of the property to receive feedback about the new hospital and the needs of the region, they said.
The proposed 483,000-square-foot location would be built on 60 acres, officials said. If built, the hospital would bring hundreds of health care jobs to the region, they said.
St. Charles County Executive Steve Ehlmann welcomed the plan to build the hospital, calling Mercy a well-respected health care provider. Many county residents are already going to Mercy clinics and hospitals, he said, and the new location will cut down on their travel time.
Mercy operates more than 50 acute care and specialty hospitals across Missouri, Kansas, Arkansas and Oklahoma.
The two closest hospitals to the proposed location are St. Joseph’s Hospital and St. Joseph’s Hospital-Wentzville, both operated by SSM Health. BJC HealthCare operates Progress West Hospital in O’Fallon, about seven miles east of the proposed Mercy location.
