The request of Barnes-Jewish Hospital for an extension to its existing long-term lease (with 46 years remaining) on a portion of Forest Park adjacent to the hospital campus, has undergone extensive review by city officials as well as by citizens at a number of public meetings with the Forest Park Advisory Board and neighborhood and community groups. Barnes-Jewish has asked to extend the lease for an additional 44 years and to permit further needed development for hospital and medical center use in the next seven to ten years. After many months of strongly expressed public concern and reservations about the appropriateness of the extension and financial equity, the parties appear to be close to a common-sense resolution that takes into account the legitimate needs of the hospital complex and the need to provide a sufficient level of dedicated financial support for the annual maintenance of Forest Park. The city can’t afford the obligation, and Forest Park Forever can not guarantee a contribution beyond its limited means.
As for the African-American community’s special interests, Comptroller Darlene Green has been at the negotiating table to ensure that not only the deal is fiscally sound and equitable, based on appraisal of the property’s fair market value, but she has also been diligent in advocating for appropriate MBE/DBE participation in development of the property. As a member of the city’s three-member chief fiscal body, she should – if satisfied that this is an acceptable arrangement – act now in the best interest of the city and its citizens, despite any past relationship with Mayor Francis G. Slay.
Barnes-Jewish Hospital’s lease payments would release the city’s current payments for Forest Park maintenance to a committed increase in funding for other city parks, including Fairgrounds. More importantly, Barnes-Jewish Hospital is one of the few hospitals to remain in the city, and it provides more charity medical care – much of it for African Americans – than any other hospital in the region.
Notwithstanding a shameful past history of segregation and exclusion, the hospital is a linchpin for the delivery of world-class health care as well as for the stabilization and improvement of surrounding neighborhoods. It has made some positive changes recently that need to be continued and expanded. Under a new, more enlightened leadership, hospital policies have improved, but remain a work in progress. Still, Barnes-Jewish is playing an essential role in creating a better regional health care safety network; more than 4,500 of its 16,000 city workers are self-identify as minorities; a Center for Diversity and Cultural Competence has been funded with a $1.56 million grant; and there has been an increase in direct spending with minority firms.
The value of this world-class hospital and the importance of its needed growth are indispensable, so the resolution of the lease extension should be expedited outside of self-serving politics. Continued rancor serves to undermine the future cooperation necessary for the mutual benefit of the city, its people and the hospital complex if we are to meet optimally the challenges of this hospital group and the diverse community interests it serves.