News

SoutheastHEALTH today celebrated the completion and upcoming opening of its $25 million West Campus expansion project with a ribbon cutting and sneak peek for representatives of the Cape Girardeau and Jackson Chambers of Commerce, SoutheastHEALTH staff and physicians, civic leaders and elected officials. The 70,000-square foot Southeast Center for Integrated Health Services houses the Southeast Orthopedics and Sports Medicine Center, Southeast Women’s Integrated Health and Southeast Breast Health. The Center will welcome patients beginning on January 16.

SoutheastHEALTH President and CEO Ken Bateman said the new building, along with the nearby Southeast Cancer Center, Southeast Behavioral Health Hospital and Southeast Medical Plaza, “will further define our West Campus as a regional hub for outpatient services.” He added that nationally, healthcare services are increasingly moving to outpatient settings because of advancements in medical technology, patient preference and financial incentives.

Bateman added that the expansion of services is on target to add up to 100 new jobs, which is “welcome news as we continue to rebound from the economic downturn caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.” And according to an economic impact study by the Missouri Hospital Association, the $25 million in construction costs for the new facility equal about $50 million in economic impact to the community.

Planning for the Southeast Center for Integrated Health Services was done with the patient experience top of mind, he added. The Southeast Orthopedics and Sports Medicine wing occupies two levels of the center on the south end and includes 46 treatment rooms, four ultrasound procedure rooms, one general procedure room, three x-ray rooms and a physical therapy assessment space. The SoutheastHEALTH Sports Medicine and Orthopedic team has grown to include five orthopedic surgeons and two sports medicine physicians, the newest of whom is Brian Sutterer, MD, who joined the practice in December. Within Orthopedics and Sports Medicine is a Bone Health Clinic designed to help patients achieve optimal bone health, particularly those with osteoporosis concerns.

Southeast Women’s Integrated Health, located on the north end, includes dedicated space on the first floor for visiting specialists. The specialists will be a culmination of services recruited by a recent women’s community survey performed in collaboration with Southeast Missouri State University. This will bring many essential women’s services together in an expanded space that includes 36 exam rooms, five ultrasound rooms, two procedure rooms and on-site lab services. Southeast Breast Health for men and women located on the first floor, will have four mammography rooms, two bone densitometry rooms and one stereotactic room, along with pelvic health physical therapy services.

Southeast Breast Health will also introduce new technologies to the region with automated breast ultrasound and contrast-enhanced mammography. Automated breast ultrasound is the only FDA-approved ultrasound technology designed for screening women with dense breast tissue and, when used as an adjunct to mammography, is very efficient at detecting invasive, node-negative cancers. Contrast-enhanced mammography is as effective as MRI for staging newly diagnosed breast cancer and can serve as an alternative for those facing barriers to undergoing an MRI.

The Southeast Center for Integrated Health Services is Phase 2 of a $125 million, multi-phase project that is the largest in the history of SoutheastHEALTH. Phase 2 also includes another $50 million for a sweeping renovation of the Emergency Services Department, conversion of semi-private rooms to private rooms and renovations to the Administrative Clinical Building at 1708 Lacey. Completion of that phase is anticipated by early 2024.

Phase 1 of the project is the $30 million Southeast Behavioral Hospital completed in March 2021. Planning is underway for Phase 3, which will add a $20 million Ambulatory Surgery Center featuring surgical suites for specialties that include orthopedics, general surgery, women’s health and much more.