Washington University and Barnes-Jewish Hospital opened the Center for Advanced Medicine South County last week, making it easier for patients in south county, southern Illinois and southern Missouri to access the same care and doctors found at the main Barnes-Jewish campus near Forest Park.

The two-story, 85,000-square-foot facility is located next to Siteman Cancer Center at Interstate 55 and Butler Hill Road. CAM South County will include outpatient surgery, imaging, laboratory and physical therapy services. The building will house several Washington University physician subspecialty offices, including orthopedic surgery, internal medicine and OB/GYN. The new surgery suite includes two operating rooms and two minor procedure rooms, all for outpatient procedures.

A new phase of the center will open each week through May 16.

Imaging services will include X-ray, CT, MRI and screening mammography. STAR: Sports Therapy and Rehabilitation, part of Barnes-Jewish West County Hospital, will be available for patients to receive treatment from experienced physical therapists.

The new south county medical center and Siteman expansion are still much smaller than the main Center for Advanced Medicine, which is 665,000 square feet and has 750 doctors in 18 treatment centers.

When Barnes-Jewish originally announced its plans for Siteman, the hospital noted that 4,500 cancer patients from south county visited Siteman’s main campus at Washington University, with 850 more added each year.