SSM Health Cardinal Glennon Children’s Hospital marked a significant construction milestone on April 6, with a topping out ceremony celebrating the placement of the final structural beam atop its new 14 story, 200 plus bed pediatric hospital in St. Louis.
The ceremony signified completion of the building’s structural frame and advanced the hospital toward its planned late 2027 opening, when it will bring expanded, high tech, family centered pediatric care to children across the region and beyond.
The topping out also marked a significant workforce milestone, with more than 700,000 work hours completed to date by the design build team, reflecting the scale, complexity, and collaborative effort required to bring the project to this point.
The event featured remarks from key regional and organizational leaders, including Laura S. Kaiser, FACHE, CEO of SSM Health; Most Reverend Mitchell Thomas Rozanski, Archbishop of St. Louis; Jeremy Fotheringham, RN, MHSA, JD, Regional President of SSM Health St. Louis and Southern Illinois; Dr. Hossain Marandi, President of SSM Health Cardinal Glennon Children’s Hospital; and Cardinal Glennon Foundation Campaign Chair Jim Koman. Community representatives, partners, and project team members were also in attendance to commemorate the milestone.
In the past seven decades, the needs of pediatric patients have changed, said Cardinal Glennon President Hossain Marandi. Health providers need more space. “The new Cardinal Glennon Children’s Hospital will expand intensive care and surgical capabilities. It will provide dedicated services and education and research space that will keep our teams at the forefront of pediatric medicine, and it will mean a facility intentionally designed around how children feel and heal, filled with warmth, light, and hope,” said Marandi.
The new facility is designed to transform pediatric care by incorporating advanced technology, expanded specialty units, and a healing focused environment. Planned features include 200 plus beds, a larger pediatric intensive care unit, a new bone marrow transplant unit, increased operating room capacity, a dedicated dialysis unit, and private, light filled NICU, PICU, and CVICU spaces. The hospital’s modern design is expected to improve patient outcomes, strengthen family engagement, and support continued clinical innovation.
The hospital is being delivered by a collaborative design build team that includes McCarthy Building Companies, St. Louis based construction manager; HKS, Inc., Dallas based architecture and design firm; and The Lawrence Group, St. Louis based planning and design firm.
The ceremony was held outdoors at 920 South Spring Avenue in St. Louis, directly across from the new hospital construction site.
