When patients and visitors enter the Van Elslander Pavilion at St. John Hospital & Medical Center (SJH&MC), they are greeted by warm reception and waiting areas. Above, natural light floods through the three-story atrium windows. While the recently opened pavilion is the new front entrance to the hospital, visitors are struck by the non-hospital feel of the environment. Part of the $163 million expansion program planned for the hospital, the Van Elslander Pavilion opened in fall 2007 and is part of the largest expansion program in St. John's 54-year history.

The 250,000-square-foot pavilion is also home to the W. Warren Shelden Heart and Circulatory Center, where nearly an entire floor has been dedicated to cardiovascular services. The center features 30 individual waiting rooms.

Also located in the new pavilion, the Fontbonne Diagnostic Imaging Department offers updated digital imaging services, including two 64-slice CT scanners and a 16-slice scanner. Another 64-slice scanner will be located in the emergency room.

In addition, the Van Elslander Pavilion merges the ultrasound, vascular lab and nuclear medicine departments. To date, two additional floors of the Van Elslander Pavilion have opened. The final floor is scheduled for completion in early June. In all, the pavilion will offer 144 private patient rooms. The entire facility features leading-edge technology services arranged in a patient-focused design.

The Van Elslander Pavilion's second and third floors were also recently opened following dedication ceremonies. The second floor, 5 North, will care for cardiac patients. while the pavilion's third floor, 6 North, will care for oncology patients. The floors feature 36 private rooms (including bariatric rooms). Every aspect of the new, large patient rooms has been designed to enhance the healing environment and maximize comfort for patients and their families. Each room has a flat-screen television, conference rooms, physicians team conference room, and custom nurse work spaces.

In addition to the Van Elslander Family Foundation, other donors to the Van Elslander Pavilion have included the John A. and Marlene L. Boll Foundation, the Shelden family, the Manoogian Foundation, Anthony L. Soave and family, Gretchen C. Valade and Jane and Robert Nugent, as well as the Kresge Foundation, Emergency Medicine Specialists and the St. John Hospital Guild.

Also making history, the St. John Emergency Physicians pledged $1 million to the SJH&MC Expansion Campaign. For their donation, the group will receive recognition in the renovated Emergency Center. The pledge is the largest from a physician group in SJH&MC's history. So far, SJH&MC physicians have raised more than $2.5 million for the campaign.

Recently, St. John Health Hospitals were honored as two of the nation's top 15 major teaching hospitals by one of the country's leading sources of health care information and research. The recognition from Thomson (formerly Solucient) recognizes hospitals that achieve or exceed national benchmark scores for hospital-wide performance.

The Sisters of St. Joseph started St. John Hospital in 1952 with 250 beds and 70 employees. Work on the hospital began immediately following a groundbreaking ceremony in 1948. As of 2006, the hospital employed 4,900 employees and a 700-member medical staff. The hospital is comprised of seven hospitals plus more than 125 medical facilities in southeast Michigan. Each year, thousands of lives are improved through services such as heart, cancer, obstetrics, neurosciences, orthopedics, physical rehabilitation, behavioral medicine, surgery, emergency and urgent care.

St. John Hospital and Medical Center, a leading regional destination hospital is a member of St. John Health, the largest provider of inpatient care in southeast Michigan and one of the largest employers in metro Detroit.