A planned hospital in the underserved community of Cahokia Heights, Illinois, moved a step closer to construction after receiving state approval July 14, clearing the way for a $231 million project.
The proposed 108-bed Touchette Regional Hospital is expected to expand behavioral health services and increase access to medical specialists in Southern Illinois and the Metro East, according to Dr. Dolores Gunn.
“In recent years, we have seen an increasing number of patients in the area who needed to be admitted but were transferred to other hospitals, primarily in Missouri, and adolescents to Chicago for behavioral health,” Gunn said.
“A modern hospital with new capacity will help Touchette recruit the specialists the region needs to keep our patients here at home.”
Gunn is a board-certified family medicine physician with more than 30 years of clinical experience in East St. Louis and the Metro East.
Touchette’s current facility at 5900 Bond Ave. will discontinue inpatient services once the new hospital opens. Construction is expected to begin in March 2027, and the hospital is scheduled to open in mid-to-late 2029.
The new hospital will include 12 private medical-surgical beds, 48 adult behavioral health beds, 24 geriatric behavioral health beds and 24 adolescent behavioral health beds. The adolescent unit, serving patients ages 12 to 17, will be the only program of its kind in Illinois south of Springfield, according to a news release.
The facility also will include an emergency department, surgery, gastroenterology, diagnostic imaging, laboratory services and pulmonary testing.
The hospital is part of the East St. Louis Health Transformation Partnership, a collaboration among Touchette Regional Hospital, Southern Illinois Health Care Foundation, doing business as SIHF Healthcare, and other community partners.
The project will be funded primarily through Illinois’ Healthcare Transformation Collaboratives program. About $193 million will come from a transformation grant administered by the Illinois Department of Healthcare and Family Services. The Illinois Capital Development Board will contribute $15 million, and Touchette Regional Hospital will provide the remaining $23 million.
“This project is especially meaningful because it brings together Touchette Regional Hospital, SIHF Healthcare and other community partners around a shared goal — addressing gaps in health care and economic development,” said Larry McCulley, CEO of SIHF Healthcare. “The new hospital is part of a broader, coordinated investment in the region, and we are grateful for the support from the City of Cahokia Heights, Senator Christopher Belt and others in helping make this investment possible.”