St. Louis residents vow to continue fighting developer Paul McKee鈥檚 decision to name a new medical facility Homer G. Phillips Hospital.
Opponents of the name say the new building at Cass and Jefferson avenues, which has three inpatient beds and 16 emergency room beds, doesn鈥檛 deserve to carry on the legacy of the original 728-bed hospital of the same name. The hospital, named for pioneering attorney Homer G. Phillips, served Black residents for four decades.
Community organizers invited McKee to a meeting at City Hall on Wednesday, but he did not show.
鈥淲hen people disregard your voice, they disregard your humanity,鈥� said Walle Amusa, co-director of the Campaign for Human Dignity. 鈥淚t鈥檚 not just about a three-bed hospital. It鈥檚 about people feeling you鈥檙e so worthless they don鈥檛 even need to hear your voice.鈥�
Political leaders have joined the fight against the hospital鈥檚 name. Mayor Tishaura Jones spoke briefly Wednesday to several dozen community members, representatives of local organizations and former employees of the original hospital, and condemned the use of the name.
鈥淧lease keep me informed about what I can do as your mayor to fight back against the naming of this facility after one of our brave, historic civil rights icons,鈥� Jones said.
When the hospital opened in 1937, segregation limited where Black residents could seek medical care.
鈥淭he Black community had been treated at this very inferior hospital, City Hospital No. 2, which was dilapidated, it was overcrowded,鈥� said Candace O鈥機onnor, author of the book 鈥淐limbing the Ladder, Chasing the Dream: The History of Homer G. Phillips Hospital.鈥�
Phillips 鈥減ushed for there to be a freestanding Black hospital in the Ville, and eventually that鈥檚 what happened,鈥� O鈥機onnor said.
The lawyer was shot and killed in 1931, six years before the hospital opened. Black medical school graduates blocked from completing residencies at white hospitals turned to the facility to continue their training.
The city closed the hospital in 1979 to cut expenses.
Alderwoman Dwinderlin Evans, D-4th Ward, is among those proposing a different name for the new facility, built at the former site of the Pruitt-Igoe housing project.
鈥淭he projects that were torn down were named Pruitt-Igoe. So that鈥檚 why I say if they want to name the hospital after someone, name it after Wendell Pruitt,鈥� Evans said.
Pruitt-Igoe was named after St. Louis native and Tuskegee Airman Wendell O. Pruitt and former Congressman William L. Igoe.
Sheila Steed, a homeowner in the Ville, said naming the small hospital for Homer G. Phillips threatens his legacy. 鈥淚f they take our history, our young people will be growing up being confused about what Homer G. Phillips really stood for,鈥� Steed said.
State Rep. Kimberly-Ann Collins, D-St. Louis, also opposes the name.
鈥淚 got into office too late to block it,鈥� Collins told residents Wednesday. 鈥淭he best thing we can do as a community is to stand with each other and make noise.鈥�
The hospital鈥檚 board of directors said in a written statement that board members have 鈥渘o intentions to re-examine the naming of this hospital.鈥�
The hospital 鈥渉as a daunting mission to live up to its name,鈥� the statement continued. 鈥淲e intend to be worthy of the challenge.鈥� The medical center is set to open in the spring of 2022.
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