ST. LOUIS — Eight months after its sudden closure, change may be coming to South City Hospital, the Dutchtown facility formerly known as St. Alexius.
Daniel Wiggins, the court-appointed receiver who has managed the hospital for the past year, said in an email Monday that the company’s lease will end Wednesday, allowing for a new “business occupant” in the facility.
Wiggins said that he wasn’t privy to the new occupant’s plans for the site.
South City Hospital, formerly St. Alexius Hospital, shut down abruptly in August after suffering multiple bankruptcies and a revolving door of owners, operators and administrators.
The hospital’s operator, SA Hospital Acquisition Group, has been in receivership since May 2023.
When the hospital closed in August, it initially secured a suspension of its license from the state — instead of surrendering it outright — in hopes of keeping the facility marketable for potential buyers. Months later, the hospital did surrender its license, according to the state Department of Health and Senior Services.
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The hospital’s landlord — a company affiliated with St. Louis-based Twain Financial Partners — said in court filings as recently as mid-March that 360 Investments was interested in entering a sublease agreement and reopening the hospital. But in early April, an attorney for 360 Investments, Lester Stuckmeyer Jr., said 360 had passed on the deal months prior.
On Monday, Stuckmeyer said in an email that he didn’t have anything more to add. A representative for 360 didn’t respond to a text message seeking comment. And an attorney for Twain didn’t respond to requests for detail.
A judge signed an order allowing the receivership to end, effective Tuesday.
Any new operator would face significant work at the site. The hospital had multiple water leaks this winter, according to court documents. In one case, a broken shut-off valve left water pooled in the emergency room on the second floor, leaking down into the first floor.
View life in St. Louis through the Post-Dispatch photographers' lenses. Edited by Jenna Jones.