M
uch of the building’s steel structure was in place when a cornerstone ceremony was held May 23, 1954. Archbishop Ritter used a gold-plated trowel to place mortar below the massive stone as it was lowered into place. Dr. William Glennon, brother of the late Cardinal, stood at his side. “As this cornerstone symbolizes the unity of this building, so it should also symbolize to us Christ, who is the cornerstone of the Christian family,” Ritter said. Placed inside a copper box within the cornerstone were newspapers, a photo of Cardinal Glennon and other mementos from his life, including a rosary and a prayer book he had given his brother. Also sealed in the box were yearbooks from the archdiocese and medical school and a “Sisters of St. Mary 75th Anniversary Jubilee Book.”
and congenital conditions that caused infant mortality and lifelong handicaps. New procedures corrected many “birth defects,” but it became apparent that birth often was too late for treatment. After prenatal ultrasound brought the ability to detect abnormalities while babies remained in the womb, obstetricians and pediatricians could only wait and plan to do as best they could after birth. Surgical correction of defects during the fetal period began at SSM Health Cardinal Glennon just five years ago. The Fetal Care Institute is one of just a handful of such centers and one of the most productive. Its surgeons have performed approximately 200 fetal interventions and its staff has guided 1,000 additional families gestation and planned for care after delivery. “It is a career dream come true, being at the commencement and watching the blossoming of the St. Louis Fetal Care Institute,” says Vlastos, also an assistant professor of medicine at Saint Louis University. “It is beyond any expectation I could have held when
I went into medicine.” The institute’s surgeons have corrected urinary obstructions and blood flow defects that could have irreparably injured the kidneys, lungs and heart prior to birth, Vlastos says. “We have taken amniotic bands off in the womb so the babies can move forward with all their arms and legs in place. We have helped 50 children with spina bifida have a better chance of walking and living without shunts in their brains.” “SSM Health Cardinal Glennon, SSM Health and Saint Louis University School of Medicine, as well as generous donors to SSM Health Cardinal Glennon Children’s Foundation, have made the Fetal Care Institute one of many outstanding programs at the hospital,” Vlastos says. “The Fetal Care Institute is one spot in the remarkable brightness of Cardinal Glennon. We have outstanding practitioners in every department and Lord knows none of this would be possible without the great nursing staff we have. There appears to be no limits to be found within this great culture of helping children, focusing scientific inquiry