Zenobia Thompson was serving as a head nurse at Homer G. Phillips Hospital when she became a leader in the fight to keep city leaders from closing the iconic black teaching hospital. It was a fight she lost, alongside a strong coalition of hospital employees and activists in 1979.
Now she is on the frontline again fighting to keep developer Paul McKee Jr. from tarnishing the legacy of this black institution by naming his proposed three-bedroom hospital and freestanding emergency department the “Homer G. Phillips Hospital.” McKee proposes to build the $20.5 million hospital project at the site of the former Pruitt-Igoe housing project, and it’s set to receive $8 million in public funding.
“In this Black History Month, I think that it’s most important we educate people about the legacy and the meaning of our culture,” Thompson said. “We are 1,000 percent opposed to Paul McKee stealing the name of this legacy.”
From 1937 until 1955, Homer G. Phillips was the only hospital of scale for African Americans in St. Louis. It continued to serve largely the African-American community after desegregation, and it was the first teaching hospital west of the Mississippi River for black students. By 1961, Homer G. Phillips had trained the largest number of black doctors and nurses in the world.
The coalition opposing McKee’s name for the hospital includes those who stood side-by-side in the protests in 1979: the Organization for Black Struggle; the Coalition for Black Trade Unionists; The Campaign for Respect, Fairness and Human Dignity; and the Homer G. Phillips Nurses Alumni Inc.
Since the beginning of the year, the coalition leaders have been requesting a meeting to talk “respectfully” with the developers, they said.
Alderwoman Tammika Hubbard (D-Ward 5) — who sponsored the legislation for the hospital’s public subsidy — has “angrily” refused to sit down with the former nurses and doctors from the institution, coalition leaders said. McKee also has not returned their requests for a meeting.
Some are wondering why U.S. Rep. Wm. Lacy Clay, who has a working relationship with McKee and represents the area, has been so silent on the issue and has not helped to orchestrate a meeting for the coalition.
One of those people asking the question is Cori Bush, who challenged Clay in the last election and will challenge him again in the August primary.
“The people are saying, ‘We are the ones on the frontline, and this is our voice,” said Bush, who is also a nurse. “I stand in solidarity with the doctors and nurses and community members to say, ‘No.’ I would love our congressman to stand with the people and not with his buddies.”
The American reached out to Clay twice about the issue, and his spokesman said the congressman was traveling.
Bush said she remembers her grandparents talking about Homer G. Phillips Hospital. If McKee wants to pay tribute to this legacy, he could do it in other ways, she said.
“He could pay tribute by taking care of his properties,” Bush said. “Pay tribute that way.”
McKee’s proposed hospital will be located within his NorthSide Regeneration development footprint, which covers much of North St. Louis and was originally awarded a $390 million TIF in 2009.
In June 2018, city officials attempted to end the development agreement for the NorthSide Regeneration project. The default notice that the city issued to McKee stated, “After a decade, the promised redevelopment has not come, nor is there any indication that it will.”
Now McKee and the city are in an ongoing legal battle over the default notice.
Thompson said that what’s even more concerning to her than the name is the fact that project leaders have not been able to confirm that the facility will be able to accept Medicaid or Medicare — despite the hospital being located in the middle of one of the most impoverished and medically underserved areas in the region.
Freestanding emergency departments — which is what project leaders have called the proposed facility — are not recognized by the federal government and cannot accept Medicaid and Medicare. In fact, studies have found that freestanding emergency rooms end up costing patients more than standard emergency room fees.
“There are some serious issues with credibility,” Thompson said. “A facility in North St. Louis City that doesn’t accept Medicaid? What kind of nonsense is that? We have real serious concerns that the naming seems minor in comparison.”
Bush, who was a frontline Ferguson protestor, said she plans to stand behind the coalition in any actions they plan on holding.
“Let’s make some noise,” Bush said. “Let’s make sure we are heard. If they are paid to represent us, you can’t represent us by putting your hands over our mouths.”
