5 Southeast Missouri health stories that resonated in 2024

Health is a deeply personal topic. Life-changing news to one individual may be meaningless to others, depending on a person’s health needs, age and circumstances.

But a handful of health stories emerged as major public topics in Southeast Missouri this year, with most of them crossing into other categories, such as business, crime, government and criminal justice.

Mercy formally takes over Southeast Hospital

In a move many months in the making, Mercy formally took over Southeast Hospital in January. New signs were erected Jan. 2 at the facility on Lacey Street in Cape Girardeau. The acquisition process began the previous August.

Bishop Edward Rice of the Diocese of Springfield-Cape Girardeau kisses a Mercy cross during the Mercy Southeast blessing ceremony Jan. 11 in Cape Girardeau. The cross is the symbol of the Sisters of Mercy, a religious order founded in Ireland in 1831 that has set up schools and hospitals across the globe. Many existing hospitals started by the Sisters joined to form Mercy in 1986.Christopher Borro ~ cborro@semissourian.com, file

The move gave Southeast Missouri’s health care a decidedly Catholic flavor as it joined Saint Francis as the two biggest providers in the region. A Catholic blessing ceremony marked the official dedication of Mercy Hospital Southeast on Jan. 12.

Mercy named Ryan Geib as the new president of Mercy Southeast. He replaced CEO Ken Bateman.

Ryan Geib was named the new president of Mercy Southeast in January when Mercy formally took over operations of Southeast Hospital.Christopher Borro ~ cborro@semissourian.com, file

Southeast Hospital opened in 1928, according to newspaper archives.

Months earlier, Mercy sewed up an acquisition of Perry County Health System, now called Mercy Hospital Perry.

Gun Violence Task Force

Some may think of gun violence as a crime issue rather than a public health one, but the U.S. surgeon general issued an advisory in June stating that firearm violence in America is a public health crisis.

The advisory described that the impact of gun violence moves beyond death and injury and into “the layers of cascading harm for youth, families, communities and other populations,” according to the surgeon general’s news release about the advisory. The surgeon general said six in 10 adults “sometimes”, “almost every day” or “every day” worry about a loved one becoming a victim of firearm violence. It reported that firearm deaths, including suicides and homicides, have been steadily rising over the last decade. In 2020, firearm-related injury surpassed car collisions as the leading cause of death for children and adolescents in the U.S.

Gun violence ties into a burgeoning problem with poor mental health in the U.S. Suicides are increasing, as well as public mass shootings.

Cape Girardeau Public Schools assistant superintendent Josh Crowell speaks to the Gun Violence Task Force about the public school system's resources for children Oct. 8 at City Hall.Nathan Gladden ~ ngladden@semissourian.com, file

A shooting that injured two during a personal dispute at the Cape Girardeau Public Schools graduation ceremony in May at the Show Me Center spurred action regarding the issue of gun violence and safety in Cape Girardeau. Cape Girardeau Mayor Stacy Kinder appointed a committee to look at the issue. Earlier this month, the task force presented recommendations to the City Council, which included a city-led social services committee such as is done in other cities; juvenile justice reform; rental property and building code efforts; data collection; and an increase in resources available for law enforcement activities.

Water issue

Public health is tied closely to healthy public drinking water. Water is closely monitored by government agencies such as the Missouri Department of Natural Resources, which works closely with the federal Environmental Protection Agency.

A big story that emerged in 2024 was Cape Girardeau’s increasingly difficult task in keeping the city’s drinking water moving and healthy.

The city communicated to the public that its water system infrastructure is in serious decline and needs serious upgrades.

Alliance Water Systems plant manager Jonathan Ridings speaks to members of the Cape Girardeau Area Chamber of Commerce at its First Friday Coffee event July 12. Ridings and Public Works director Casey Brunke delivered a presentation on the problems with Cape Girardeau's water plant and distribution system.Bob Miller ~ bmiller@semissourian.com, file

Among the topics discussed was the water company’s ongoing fight to keep nitrites and nitrates at acceptable levels. High levels of nitrates and nitrites can lead to a condition known as blue baby syndrome in babies that consume water with formula. The city acknowledged that it always meets requirements, but it took more time and resources because of the aging infrastructure. Meeting the requirement can have short-term effects on water supply in certain situations.

Jonathan Ridings of Alliance Water Resources points to one of the Cape Rock Water Treatment Plant's clarifiers May 9 in Cape Girardeau.Nathan Gladden ~ ngladden@semissourian.com, file

As the city tried to convince the public that a ballot measure was needed to increase water rates beyond what’s allowed in the city charter, the city did not lean on the public health aspect of the water system, instead focusing on the city’s inability to meet demand for water needs in the immediate future, plus an increase in projected boil water advisories for impending failures in its aging pipe system.

Voters rejected the water measure in November.

Mental health awareness in law enforcement

While gun violence, especially mass shootings, is frequently discussed in the context of mental health, oftentimes those who are mentally ill are introduced to the criminal justice system through nonviolent crimes.

Sometimes emergency calls are received when a person is having a mental health crisis, causing fear to others around them. Sometimes homeless people loiter where they’re not wanted, creating charges of trespassing. In such situations, individuals may need access to services rather than time in the city or county jail.

The Cape Girardeau Police Department and the Cape Girardeau County Sheriff’s Office continue to complement their staffs with mental health professionals who can tend to mental health problems both in the public and inside the county jail.

Cape Girardeau’s police department began tracking mental health-related calls in 2016. At that time, the department responded to about three mental health crisis reports a week. From 2020-22, the department responded to more than 5,000 welfare checks, spending an average of 61 minutes on calls that involved a behavioral health crisis, according to the department’s 2023 annual report. In 2023, it launched a partnership with the Community Counseling Center to embed two behavioral health professionals within the police department to help respond to such calls. Numbers have not been released for 2024, but 2023 numbers show that emergency room and jail diversions dropped 16%.

Cpl. Will Rogers, left, and co-repsonder Shannon Faris in front of the Cape Girardeau Police Department on Wednesday, Oct. 16.Nathan Gladden ~ ngladden@semissourian.com, file

Meanwhile, the county jail has also embedded a mental health professional into its operations, which has dramatically reduced problems in the jail and recidivism, according to officials.

The recidivism rate has dropped from 35% to 17.4% since the implementation of the Jail Navigator Program, which gives inmates access to counseling, but also helps put them in touch with resources when they are released from jail.

Mercy/Anthem dispute resolved

One of the major talking points in the U.S. this month has been the country's health care system and private insurance's role in delivering it.

The murder of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson ignited heated exchanges by large swaths of Americans regarding insurance companies' denial of services. Privatized health care inherently creates friction between patients' individual needs and financial interests of the insurance companies.

Locally, a business dispute between Mercy Southeast and Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield was aired out in public as Mercy announced it was prepared to end its business arrangements with the insurer. Anthem serves about 9,000 members in Southeast Missouri who accessed a Mercy facility or clinician in the last year, an Anthem spokesperson said in September.

Mercy attacked Anthem's "red tape" that makes it difficult for customers to navigate the system, as well as its rising net income and profit margins. Anthem claimed Mercy was asking for "drastic price demands".

Ultimately the two health corporations struck a deal earlier this month, avoiding the potential disruption of businesses and individuals from finding different health care or insurance options.