Story by Carol Pappas Photos by Jerry Martin St. Vincent’s Health System President and CEO John O’Neil remembers the day he and parent company officials from Ascension Health were on a two-hour conference call as he was traveling to his new home in Alabama. It was an historic phone call, not just for the company but for Pell City, St. Clair County and the region. By the time the call was over, the decision was made to move forward with building a new state-of-the-art hospital in Pell City, Alabama. Partners came together — St. Vincent’s, St. Clair Health Care Authority, St. Clair County Commission, St. Clair Economic Development Council and City of Pell City. Dirt began to move. And rising from what was nothing but woods would become a beacon for health care in the region. In December 2011, St. Vincent’s St. Clair opened its impressive doors in a new facility just north of Interstate 20, and in only 12 months, its impact has been felt in ways never imagined in most circles. As he looked over a crowd of well-wishers and staff a year later at the hospital’s first-anniversary celebration, O’Neill recalled the phone call that left no doubt that the hospital system is “committed to this county, this facility and you.” Kidada Hawkins, vice president of Rural Hospital Operations and part of the transition team during the move from the old, aging facility on John Haynes Drive, echoed O’Neil’s outlook on the role of St. Vincent’s in St. Clair County life. “We are blessed to be here. This is not a hospital, it’s a ministry,” he said. Evan Ray has since taken the reins of the thriving St. Vincent’s St. Clair as president and chief operating officer of Rural Hospital Operations, noting just how far the hospital has come in such a short time. Emergency Department usage is up 30 percent. In-patient discharges soared 47 percent. Surgeries increased 25 percent, and outpatient services are up 20 percent. Physicians Plaza, the professional office building adjacent to the hospital, has seen tremendous growth with new doctors, an advanced wound-care center and a durable medical supply facility. A sleep-disorder center opened its doors in December, and it earned prestigious national Joint Commission Accreditation for the hospital and laboratory. Ray credits the genesis of it all to the “leadership coming to the table to bring this to reality.” And a welcoming community since has provided the sturdy support it needed to build for the future. “We are going to continue to see growth,” Ray predicted. Expanded services like vascular surgery, podiatry and urology are “moving forward.” Endocrinology services have been added. The hyperbaric oxygen treatment offered through the only wound-care center in St. Clair and the only one in the St. Vincent’s system is a service with high demand since opening in August. In the first quarter of 2013, an occupational-health clinic will open to deal with growth spurred by Honda and other manufacturing in the region. The hospital is working “hand in hand to treat veterans,” who are beginning to move into the Col. Robert L. Howard Veterans Home on 27 acres just across the road. Dr. Barry Collins, whose Pell City Internal Family Medicine practice is in Physicians Plaza, is serving as medical director at the veterans home.
St. Clair EDC Executive Director Don Smith (left) and former Pell City Mayor Bill Hereford share a word at the anniversary. In the background are Don Perry, chairman of St. Vincent’s Advisory Board and former Pell City Mayor Lawrence Fields, who chairs the Health Care Authority.
President and COO of Rural Hospital Operations Evan Ray
February - March 2013 | DISCOVER The Essence of St. Clair • 53