ST. LOUIS — A group of nurses who worked at the historic Homer G. Phillips Hospital in north ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ has spent years asking a controversial developer not to name his urgent care center after it.
But now their patience is up.
The group filed suit this week accusing developer Paul McKee’s new facility, at Jefferson Avenue and Thomas Street, of unfairly profiting off a name that once adorned a five-story, 600-bed marvel of Black ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ during segregation. The use of the name, the suit says, also violates the group’s trademark for Homer G. Phillips Nurses’ Alumni, Inc.
“That name should not be on there,†said Yvonne Jones, the group’s president.
An attorney for the new health care facility, Paul Puricelli, said the suit was without merit. He said it was unfortunate that the nurses were opposing an attempt to bring health care to north ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½.
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“It’s really a shame,†he said.
McKee did not respond to a request for comment.
The new facility had been slated for potential opening this past spring, but the building, just south of Cass Avenue, appeared unoccupied on Thursday. An empty parking lot and cones blocked one entrance.
The building is about 2 miles east of the original Homer G. Phillips Hospital at 2601 North Whittier Street, named for the prominent attorney and political figure by the same name. Phillips pushed for several causes in the community, including a new hospital for Black residents.
The city set aside money in the late 1920s for the project, but Phillips did not live to see it built. He was shot and killed in 1931, and city officials voted to name the new hospital in his honor.
Homer G. Phillips Hospital quickly became one of the nation’s largest teaching hospital for African Americans after it opened in 1937. It served the city’s Black residents and taught hundreds of nurses, doctors and technicians who went on to work across the country.
“It was globally known for the bright intellectuals who worked there,†said Zenobia Thompson, who graduated from the nursing school in 1965. “That institution was a jewel.â€
City officials closed the hospital in 1979, leading to protests and frustration among the Black community.
In 2019, advocates became outraged when they heard a developer, McKee’s NorthSide Regeneration, was building a new clinic, with three inpatient beds and a 16-bed emergency room, and planned to name it Homer G. Phillips Memorial Hospital in honor of the original. They said it disrespected the hospital and its rich history in ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½.
The new health center, on the site of the former Pruitt-Igoe housing complex, was a major piece of NorthSide’s plan to remake north city that stalled for years amid disputes with public officials.
The hospital hit turbulence again in 2020 when it missed its first financing deadline, but city leaders later gave the project an extension. McKee closed the gap with money from the United Bank of Union, the Bank of Washington, and the ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½-Kansas City Carpenters Regional Council, which was later dissolved by the parent union.
Despite the setbacks, McKee said last year he had big plans for NorthSide, including expanding the hospital and building a medical school, housing, a hotel and office space. The developer still owns hundreds of properties around the future National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency campus.
Advocates, meanwhile, protested, wrote letters and voiced support for a resolution urging the operators of the new clinic to pick another name.
“We’re not opposed to the clinic being there, we’re opposed to the name it bears,†Thompson said this week. “We won’t stand for this.â€
On Monday, the nurses alumni group sued.
The suit says the new facility’s use of the name is “confusingly similar†to the trademarked phrase and is an effort to use their “reputation, brand and goodwill for the purpose of driving customers to their medical facility.â€
The suit asks a judge to stop the hospital from using the name and grant an unspecified amount in damages.
A hearing has not yet been set in the case.
Correction: This story has been updated with the correct location of the old hospital.
