ST. LOUIS, MO — SSM Health Cardinal Glennon Children’s Hospital marked a significant construction milestone, with a topping out ceremony celebrating the placement of the final structural beam atop its new 14-story, 200-plus bed pediatric hospital. 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.
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, Texas-based architecture and design firm; and The Lawrence Group, St. Louis-based planning and design firm.
