The three-bed Homer G. Phillips Memorial Hospital in north St. Louis could soon lose its license for good.
The troubled facility closed in December when the state found it didn’t have enough blood on hand. Hospital officials at the time said the closure was temporary but in late February sent many employees emails saying their jobs at the hospital had been eliminated.
According to the state Department of Health and Senior Services, the hospital will lose its license next week if it doesn’t send the state a plan to correct its deficiencies and allow regulators to conduct a site inspection.
It’s difficult to believe the hospital could close for good so soon after it opened in January 2024, said Jenn Williams, a nurse who recently lost her job there.
“When things would look bad working there, I'm like, ‘They didn't spend all these years getting this place built for us to close in [11] months,'” she said. “But apparently they did.”
The facility closed in December after a routine DHSS inspection found Homer G. Phillips didn’t have a reliable blood supply. The newly built hospital’s license was set to expire at the end of the year.
Hospital officials requested the state suspend its license while it dealt with issues at the property. The state granted and then extended its license suspension, but it’s set to expire March 17.
Operators of the hospital submitted a correction plan late last month, but state regulators did not accept it because it wasn’t detailed enough, DHSS spokeswoman Lisa Cox said in an email.
Hospital officials did not respond to requests for comment.
If the hospital doesn’t send its updated correction plan within the next week, or if DHSS cannot approve the plan and conduct an in-person inspection of the facility, the hospital will lose its license to operate. That means its operators will need to apply for and receive a new one before they can again see patients.
It is possible that the facility could still submit its plan and gain approval before the deadline next week, but “there would be a very large amount of work that would need to be accomplished in a short timeframe,” Cox said.
Williams and other employees said the hospital still owes them money from paychecks, PTO payouts and other benefits.
Talisa Smittie, who worked in registration at the hospital, said she was unable to receive unemployment while on furlough.
She hasn’t heard from the hospital's operators since she received a letter last month saying her position had been terminated.
“When you have people under you, you have a responsibility to your staff, just as your staff has responsibility,” Smittie said. “Be transparent. Be truthful. We're all adults. ... Regardless if you're opening or not, maybe a lot of people wouldn't be so upset, disappointed and bitter about the whole thing. Just be transparent and be honest.”
She said she hopes to soon go back to school to get certified as a respiratory therapist so she has more job opportunities.
Williams, the RN, said that it would be a shame for the neighborhood in north St. Louis to lose a place for residents to get medical care.
“It’s just past frustrating,” she said. “All of us love working in that community. It was so obvious that it was needed…. I've been a nurse for 13 years. I worked a lot of places, and most of the time you’re just getting cussed out.
“The appreciation of the patient — not that that's the only reason I do — it was just so obviously there. I really felt like I was helping.”
