HEALTHCARE
St. Louis is one of the nation’s leading health care centers. St. Louis is home to two renowned medical schools at Saint Louis University and Washington University. In the class of 2005-06 these schools of medicine graduated 268 MDs and 72 PhDs in Biological and Biomedical Sciences.1 The St. Louis MSA had 7,833 physicians in 2004, including 2,503 in primary care, 660 in subspecialties, and 3,635 in all other specialties according to the American Medical Association.2 These totals were 17.5% above the U.S. average number of physicians per capita and 35.6% over the average for subspecialists.
In addition, the region has a dental school, college of optometry, college of chiropractic medicine, and two schools of pharmacy. Greater St. Louis also has numerous nursing, allied health, and healthcare technical programs.
These colleges and universities along with a diverse range of local health care organizations have made St. Louis nationally known as a center for medical research, especially in the areas of medical devices and pharmaceuticals.
The health care industry in the St. Louis MSA employed over 168,000 people in 2005 according to the U.S. Census Bureau. The following table is a breakdown of the number of employees and establishments in various health care industry sub-sectors.
| NAICS Code |
Industry Sector Description |
Employees |
Total Establishments |
| 62--- |
Healthcare and Social Assistance |
168,393 |
7,035 |
| 621111 |
Offices of Physicians
(except Mental Health Specialists) |
17,103 |
1,791 |
| 6212 |
Offices of Dentists |
5,000-9,999 |
1,146 |
| 6213 |
Offices of Other Health Practitioners |
6,845 |
1,204 |
| 6214 |
Outpatient Care Centers |
5,004 |
229 |
| 6215 |
Medical and Diagnostic Laboratories |
2,500-4,000 |
151 |
| 6216 |
Home Healthcare Services |
7,581 |
241 |
| 622 |
Hospitals |
62,873 |
60 |
| 6221 |
General Medical and Surgical Hospitals |
59,985 |
46 |
| 6222 |
Psychiatric and Substance Abuse Hospitals |
1,000-2,499 |
6 |
| 6223 |
Specialty (except Psychiatric and
Substance Abuse) Hospitals |
1,000-2,499 |
8 |
| 6231 |
Nursing Care Facilities |
18,859 |
206 |
As of September 2007, the St. Louis MSA had 58 hospitals of which 45 were general acute-care hospitals. These area hospitals had over 12,500 beds authorized including approximately 7,700 medical-surgical beds.4
The St. Louis, MO-IL MSA had the least expensive health insurance premiums for family coverage out of the 20 largest metropolitan areas in the U.S. in 2005. St. Louis ranked fourth least expensive for employee-plus-one coverage and the seventh least expensive for single coverage. Data on average total premiums for private-sector establishments were collected by the U.S. Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality.5
This data documents businesses’ relatively low costs to provide healthcare insurance coverage to employees in Greater St. Louis. In fact, the St. Louis, MO-IL MSA had the second highest percent of overall employee health insurance enrollment (64.1%) out of the 20 largest metropolitan areas in the U.S. in 2005.6
The percent of the St. Louis MSA population under age 65 which was uninsured averaged 10.4% in 1999-2001, the latest data available at the metropolitan level.7 This was much better than the U.S. average of approximately 16% uninsured, for this population during this period, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.8
Greater St. Louis’ medical schools and hospitals are consistently among the top recognized in the U.S. Recent rankings include:
- Barnes-Jewish Hospital/Washington University ranked 9th in U.S. News & World Report’s 2007 annual list of “America’s Best Hospitals,” ranking highly in 15 separate medical specialties areas. The hospital was ranked in the top 10 in the areas of ear, nose & throat; endocrinology; heart; kidney disease; neurology & neurosurgery; ophthalmology; and respiratory disorders.9
- Barnes-Jewish Hospital was named as a 2007/08 Consumer Choice Award winner for having the highest quality and image out of 186 U.S. hospitals in its respective Metropolitan Statistical Area.10
- St. Anthony’s Medical Center is one of the nation’s top performance improvement leader hospitals for 2006, according to Solucient.11
- St. John’s Mercy Medical Center ranked among the top 50 on U.S. News & World Report’s “America’s Best Hospitals” list in 2007 for the specialty of neurology & neurosurgery.12
- In 2007, St. Louis Children’s Hospital was named as the 7th “Best Pediatric Hospital” in the nation by Child magazine, up by three places from 2005.13 St. Louis Children’s Hospital also ranked No. 15 on U.S. News & World Report’s “America’s Best Children’s Hospitals” 2007.14
- Saint Louis University Hospital ranked 29th in the specialty of geriatrics in U.S. News & World Report’s “America’s Best Hospitals” list in 2007.15
- St. Luke’s Hospital received the 2007 “America’s 50 Best Hospitals” award by HealthGrades for outstanding clinical performance over the course of a seven-year period. St. Luke’s was the only hospital in Missouri to be named on this list.16
- SSM St. Mary’s Health Center ranked in the top 50 on U.S. News & World Report’s “America’s Best Hospitals” list in 2007 for the specialty of neurology & neurosurgery.17 St. Mary’s Health Center was also recognized as a top teaching hospital on the Thompson 100 Top Hospitals list for 2006.18
WEATHER
Temperature
January, Normal Low 21.2 degrees1
July, Normal High 89.8 degrees2
Number of Days3
With temperature above 90 degrees 35-40 days
With temperature below 32 degrees less than 25 days
Precipitation
100 year annual average (1907-2006) 37.3 in.4,
Snowfall
100 year annual average (1907-2006) 18.4 in.
Note: Precipitation is defined as rainfall and melted snowfall.
Sources |
