VIDEO: Doctor Brings St. John's Office to Clayton

Dr. Kenneth Poole decided to open his practice in Clayton earlier this month because of what he described as a demographic need and the city's central location.

The office has been in the works for a year.

"It widens Mercy's scope," said Poole, a primary care physician who opened Mercy Clinic Internal Medicine Clayton in conjunction with St. John's Mercy. The city is farther east than many St. John's offices.

Additionally, Poole said there are not a lot of African-American physicians, such as himself, in the St. Louis area. He said he brings a laid-back feel to his office as a young doctor.

The Clayton Chamber of Commerce held a ribbon-cutting Tuesday at the office. The event featured a blessing by Sister Gayle Evans. In brief remarks before the blessing, she said offices such as Poole's follow in the tradition of the Sisters of Mercy, who founded St. John's.

"When the sisters did health care back in 1827, I mean, they went literally from house to house and visited the sick," Evans said. "And so when we open up a clinic in a neighborhood such as this, it's very, very close to what the early Sisters of Mercy did."

Poole, 29, grew up in North County near cities such as Florissant, Black Jack and Hazelwood. He now lives in Creve Coeur with his wife, Megan. He received his medical training at Northwestern University.

He'll be the only doctor at the practice for the next six months to a year, after which the office likely will grow to include one more doctor and a nurse practitioner, Poole said.

Mercy Clinic has more than 400 physicians and 100 locations in St. Louis and surrounding communities, spokesperson Bethany Pope said.

Poole's father, Kenneth Poole Sr., attended the ribbon-cutting and said he is "super proud" of his son, whose time and investment paid off. With him were his wife, Coledia; his son, Cameron; and his sister, Cynthia Jones.

Kenneth Poole Sr. said he wasn't initially sure his son would stay in St. Louis because it appeared he might perform his residency in either California or Chicago.

"The area's getting a super doctor," he said.