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80th anniversary logo

President's Message in 2007-08 Annual Report

Click here for printer-friendly PDF version of our annual report

When the founders of Southeast Missouri Hospital stood in grassy pastureland on Cape Girardeau’s westernmost boundary, they envisioned not seeing things as they were, but as they would be. The Hospital, so carefully molded by these visionary leaders in 1924 and opened in 1928, today shapes the healthcare of our region.

We can only imagine what these men and women would think of us now. From serving just a few thousand people in 1928, today we are privileged to serve 600,000 people in 22 southeast Missouri and southern Illinois counties. From a basic X-ray machine put on display by Southeast at the 1928 District Fair, we have moved into the age of digital, instantly accessible imaging.

Eighty years ago we owned one incubator; today, hundreds of babies are cared for annually in our Level III Neonatal Intensive Care Unit. Heart surgery was unheard of in Southeast’s infancy.

Today, our Heart Hospital is ranked by HealthGrades in the top 10 percent nationally, the highest rating for our region.

James Wente

President and Chief Executive Officer
James Wente

Our centers of excellence – Heart, Cancer, Orthopedics, Women’s and Children’s, Brain and Spine and Emergency Services – offer patients the most current services and technologies delivered by a highly experienced and dedicated cadre of healthcare specialists.

The physical shape of Southeast Missouri Hospital also has evolved over the past eight decades. Since 1991 alone, we have added more than 396,000 square feet of Hospital additions, medical office buildings and fitness centers. All of these exciting projects have been completed with one thing in mind – our patients.

This year, and in the years to come, our employees, physicians, volunteers and the civic-minded individuals who serve on our Board of Trustees, Foundation Board and College of Nursing and Health Sciences Board will work together to continue to define the quality healthcare that our region expects – and deserves.

To your good health,

James Wente
President and Chief Executive Officer
From Annual Report Released April 2008