The Gateway Arch, a mammoth stainless steel structure
that towers 630 feet over the banks of the Mississippi River,
represents St. Louis’ historical place as the Gateway to the West.
Photo courtesy of the Missouri Division of Tourism.

The city of St. Louis is best known for its soaring Gateway Arch, which symbolizes the city’s historical reputation as the Gateway to the West. Towering 630 feet above the Mississippi River, this stainless steel wonder is our nation’s tallest monument and a tribute to the settlers who passed through during the country’s expansion phase.

Today, however, St. Louis has become a destination in its own right. The city’s strategic location on the west bank of the Mississippi River and its position in the U.S. heartland explain why it’s home to such major companies as Anheuser-Busch, Emerson, May Department Stores, and Graybar Electric. And many of the city’s major employers are health care firms.

More than 2.6 million people live in the Greater St. Louis region, which includes 12 counties that cover 6,375 square miles in Missouri and Illinois, making it the 18th-largest metropolitan area in the U.S. Yet Greater St. Louis boasts the sixth-lowest cost of living among major metropolitan areas.

And getting around is straightforward because four Interstate highways - I-70, I-64, I-55, and I-44 - serve the city. St. Louis’ MetroLink, a clean, efficient light rail system, helps alleviate traffic congestion and provides a welcome alternative to highway travel. Lambert-St. Louis International Airport brings any point in the U.S. to within a few hours of the city, and is a genuine historical attraction in its own right. It was here that Theodore Roosevelt became the first president to take a plane ride and was also the location of the first parachute jump.

Grant’s Farm, located just south of St. Louis, is a wildlife preserve
and historical site that’s home to animals from all over the globe.
Photo courtesy of the Missouri Division of Tourism.

On Duty

St. Louis has experienced the nursing shortage that affects the rest of the country, but it has eased considerably in the past few years, and there is certainly no shortage of health care employers. SSM Health Care-St. Louis is just one of them, employing some 8,600 people. SSM is composed of seven hospitals, health centers, and rehab facilities.

The largest health care employer in the city is BJC HealthCare, with more than 21,000 employees. With net revenues of $2.1 billion, BJC serves rural, urban, and suburban communities and includes 13 hospitals, five skilled nursing facilities, a retirement community, and other community health locations. The company just broke ground on a new hospital to be named Progress West HealthCare Center, and the BJC system includes Barnes-Jewish Hospital, the only Magnet facility in the Greater St. Louis area.

Tenet Saint Louis, with nearly 6,000 employees, is the fourth-largest employer in the city. Tenet, which reported gross revenues of $1.5 billion in 2001, operates several facilities in St. Louis including Saint Louis University Hospital, Des Peres Hospital, Forest Park Hospital, SouthPointe Hospital, St. Alexius Hospital, Deaconess College of Nursing, and Lutheran Medical Center School of Nursing.

Tenet also recently opened the $10.1 million Saint Louis University Cancer Center, located in the former Bethesda General Hospital. The 50,000-square foot center uses some of the latest screening and diagnostic tools available, including an advanced breast imaging center, an advanced endoscopy suite, computed tomography scans, positron emission tomography, and MRI.

Getting an education isn’t a problem in St. Louis, says Pat Cook, RN, FACHE, director of corporate compliance and quality at St. Anthony’s Medical Center. “We have a number of community colleges that afford a good, entry-level, two-year education at very reasonable cost,” she says. “We have a number of university-based programs, as well, and two accelerated programs. That allows folks who have either decided to opt out of another career - or been opted out - to return to school and earn a bachelor’s degree in 14 to 18 months.”

Cook mentions the nursing programs at Washington University, St. Louis University, and those of the University of Missouri state system as just a few possible venues. “Secondary education system is inexpensive, but you can certainly go from $200 per credit hour to $800, and everything in between,” she notes.

About three years ago, the Missouri Hospital Association embarked on an initiative to further health care objectives in the state, which led to the establishment of the St. Louis Healthcare Workforce Partners organization, which Cook cochairs. The consortium works to educate the public about health care employment and to bring qualified medical professionals to the area.

The St. Louis Art Museum in Forest Park has been around since the World’s Fair of 1904. Today, it features more than 30,000 works of art. Photo courtesy of the St. Louis Visitors and Convention Commission.

Off Duty

St. Louis brims with outdoor activities, and a good place to start is the sprawling Forest Park, one of the largest urban parks in the country. In fact, its 1,293 acres make it about 500 acres larger than New York’s Central Park. All that space was needed when the park was the site of the World’s Fair in 1904. The park includes the St. Louis Art Museum; the St. Louis Science Center; the St. Louis Zoo; the Missouri Historical Society; the Jewel Box greenhouse; The Muny theater; the Steinberg Skating Rink; and a 7.5-mile paved path for jogging, skating, and biking.

The metro area is also home to Six Flags St. Louis, which boasts one of the top 10 roller coasters in the country. The Boss stands 150 feet high and takes riders on hair-raising, heart-pounding rides on its 5,051 feet of twisting wooden track. The park also features The Screamin’ Eagle, once the world’s longest, tallest, and fastest wooden coaster. Its 62-mph speeds can still give you a thrill or two.

Like animals? Grant’s Farm is a wildlife preserve and historical site that’s home to hundreds of exotic beasts from around the world. The farm takes its name from President Ulysses S. Grant, who cultivated a portion of the farm’s 281 acres in the 1850s. Located just south of the city, the farm is operated by Anheuser-Busch and was once the ancestral home of the Busch family. Today, you can see Grant’s cabin, visit the Tier Garten and other wildlife areas, and stop by the hospitality room for a nice cold beer.

Does making your pulse race sound like fun? You’ll want to head
to Six Flags St. Louis, where you’ll find several exciting roller coasters.
Photo courtesy of the Missouri Division of Tourism.

The St. Louis Art Museum is a favorite destination for both art and history lovers because the Roman Revival building in Forest Park began life as the Fine Arts Palace for the 1904 World’s Fair. The museum features more than 30,000 art treasures from ancient times to the present that are scattered through 100 galleries.

The St. Louis cultural scene is typified by the ornate Fox Theater, built in 1929 by William Fox of 20th Century Fox fame. Its gilded facade has been described as Siamese-Byzantine in design, but the real payoff is inside, where Broadway shows such as Les Misérables and Rent alternate with jazz artists and crooners such as Tony Bennett.

Across the street, the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra holds court at Powell Hall, erected in 1925 as the St. Louis Theater. When the movie palace was converted into a symphonic hall in the 1960s, a team of architects and acoustic experts descended on the building and turned it into a crown jewel of St. Louis’ fine arts community.

From its close-knit neighborhoods to its vibrant downtown, St. Louis is a great place to live and work. Although the city’s nursing shortage is currently in remission, Cook says that will soon change. “One of the things we’re facing is the aging of the nursing population,” she observes. “Our average age is around 45, so even though we may have enough nurses today, I think we’ll eventually face a real crisis as the longer-term nurses retire. “But even now, for the entry-level person or relatively new careerist, there are wonderful opportunities in St. Louis.”