ST. LOUIS – A former campus of healing in south St. Louis City has decayed into an outlaw’s hideaway. Homeowners next to the former St. Alexius Hospital on South Jefferson Avenue say it’s destroying their neighborhood.

“It wasn’t that long ago that this was a bustling hospital complex,” Stephanie Botkin said.

Botkin remembers how quickly things went south as security left.

“There goes your hospital,” she said.

Graffiti claims the walls at every turn and an entire wing of broken windows—signs that intruders have even broken into the ceilings.

Two weeks ago, FOX 2 News reported that confidential patient information could be found out on the sidewalk. Incredibly, it’s all still there: dozens of records that include patient names, their contacts, and what doctors found.

“…diagnosis codes, it’s got procedures on it, you know, people’s names just flapping in the wind,” Botkin said.

St. Louis Magazine then followed up, reporting last week that neighbors won a recent court victory against the property owners.

“It’s just to get this secured and cleaned up. That’s our biggest hope,” Botkin said.

With help from Washington University’s Interdisciplinary Environmental Clinic, a pro bono legal team that assists in health and environment cases, residents convinced a judge to demand answers from the property’s ownership.

“As a south city neighborhood, we couldn’t have done anything on our own,” Botkin said.

Even a neighboring lot, Botkin pointed out, belongs to the hospital property but was only mowed recently by St. Louis City workers. FOX 2 contacted City Hall and asked what that cost the taxpayers.

“At least it’s not high-waisted weeds now,” Botkins said.

FOX 2 reached out to a property rep and heard from AGRA Capital Advisors, LLC out of Southern California, which responded:

1 - The buyer candidate and (hopefully) new owner is speaking directly with the Neighborhood Association to resolve.

2 - I would suggest taking a look at the campus security in a couple of days; a pre-closing security plan and budget were approved at the end of last week and start getting funded today. Over the last few years, lesser measures than what we are doing now brought lengthy periods of non-disturbance and stability.

FOX 2 confirmed that a neighborhood association meeting with the prospective buyer is set for next Tuesday, Aug. 26. We’ll return to see the impact.