Update: The members of the Alexian Brothers are buried in a communal plot in SS. Peter and Paul Cemetery out Gravois Avenue. The hospital changed its name to South City Hospital after the departure of the Alexian Brothers. In August of 2023, after numerous owners and management changes, the hospital announced its closure; there were only around twenty patients left at the time. The building sits empty now.

Most St. Louisans know that the famous exorcism, on which the movie The Exorcist was based, took place in South St. Louis at the historic St. Alexius Hospital. The original building where the exorcism occurred has been demolished and replaced with a new building where St. Alexius Hospital stayed on South Broadway.

The wing where the exorcism occurred was somewhere around where this parking lot is now; according to legend, the Devil keeps the asphalt cracked on the very spot where it happened.

I want to stress that I am proud the Alexian Brothers stayed in South St. Louis, as countless other hospitals moved to the County. It is a bit of a shame that they could not have found a use for the old buildings.

The new building, from the 1970’s is undistinguished, though I like the funky stylized depiction of Christ with the Sacred Heart on the side of the hospital.

The chapel is around back, and is sort of interesting.

The old Lutheran Hospital was acquired by Alexian Brothers and is now known as the Jefferson Campus of St. Alexius Hospital, not to be confused with the original, historic location.