About St. Elizabeth's Hospital Belleville Illinois
St. Elizabeth’s Hospital was founded by the Hospital Sisters of St. Francis in the late nineteenth century and became one of the oldest healthcare facilities in southwestern Illinois. Through multiple expansions and renovations over its operational life, the hospital incorporated asbestos-containing products from major manufacturers serving regional healthcare facility contractors throughout the Metro East corridor. The hospital’s proximity to the Mississippi River industrial corridor meant many workers had asbestos exposure risks on both sides of the river, which can affect which state’s law governs your claim and where it can be filed.
Why Hospitals Used Asbestos
From the 1930s through the 1970s, hospitals like St. Elizabeth’s relied on asbestos-containing materials because asbestos offered properties those manufacturers aggressively marketed as essential to hospital operations:
- Heat resistance for steam systems operating at high temperatures and pressures ( Transite Pipe, boiler systems)
- Fire suppression in surgical suites and laboratories ( spray-applied fireproofing spray-applied fireproofing, U.S. Mineral Products Cafco spray-applied fireproofing)
- Thermal insulation for boilers, pipes, and mechanical systems ( calcium silicate pipe insulation block insulation, Armstrong asbestos-containing pipe insulation, products)
- Acoustic dampening in patient care areas ( joint compound containing asbestos)
- Electrical resistance for equipment and wiring systems (Armstrong products)
Hospital engineers and architects specified asbestos products for decades. What , gaskets and packing, and other manufacturers are alleged to have deliberately concealed was the consequence: asbestos is one of the most potent occupational carcinogens ever documented.
Where Asbestos Was Present at St. Elizabeth’s
Central heating systems at St. Elizabeth’s Hospital reportedly contained asbestos throughout:
- Boiler shells and fireboxes insulated with asbestos block or asbestos-containing components
- Steam and return piping insulated with Armstrong asbestos pipe covering or products along their entire length
- Valves, flanges, and fittings sealed with gaskets and packing asbestos gaskets and A.W. Chesterton asbestos rope packing
- Boiler doors and access panels lined with or asbestos refractory cement
- Turbines and pumps insulated and gasketed with or Armstrong asbestos products
- Breachings and flue connections lined with asbestos-containing refractory cement
- Floor tiles and ceiling systems throughout the facility (Armstrong vinyl asbestos floor tiles, GAF/Ruberoid vinyl asbestos tile, ceiling products)
- Spray-applied fireproofing on structural steel in renovation areas ( spray-applied fireproofing fireproofing containing asbestos)
General Equipment at St. Elizabeth's Hospital Belleville Illinois
The equipment below represents the systems and infrastructure documented or typically present at this facility during the era when asbestos-containing materials were specified in industrial construction. This is general facility-equipment reference — not a legal attribution of any specific product, manufacturer, or exposure event to this facility. Material-category and manufacturer information is addressed in the AsbestosIndex Product Crosswalk linked under the records table below.
Documented Asbestos Evidence
The records below are verified, state-documented asbestos removals at this facility. Each entry represents a regulated abatement project where the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency (Illinois EPA) was notified under federal NESHAP rules, the work was logged, and the asbestos-containing material was confirmed and removed under regulated conditions. These are not allegations or estimates — they are paper records tying documented asbestos-containing material to this specific site.
The following 1 project notification(s) are documented with the Illinois EPA (NESHAP program) for MFA Oil Company in La Belle. These are public regulatory records.
| Project ID | Year | Site / Building | Operation | ACM Removed | Contractor |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 12965-2026 | 2026 | former MFA Oil service station | Demolition | n-f window glazing (123lf) | Pierce Trucking & Excavating |
Source: Illinois EPA, NESHAP Asbestos Abatement & Demolition/Renovation Notification Program — public regulatory records.
Material Categories in Documented Records
The materials documented above (and similar asbestos-containing materials commonly encountered in records of this type) appear in the AsbestosIndex catalog with historical manufacturer and trust-fund information. Click a category to view manufacturers historically associated with that material:
Critical Filing Deadline & Next Steps
Illinois law gives mesothelioma and asbestos-disease claimants 2 years from the date of medical diagnosis to file a personal-injury lawsuit (735 ILCS 5/13-202). For wrongful-death claims after an asbestos-related death, the filing window is 2 years from the date of death (740 ILCS 180/2). The two deadlines run on separate tracks — preserving one does not extend the other.
The personal-injury clock runs from diagnosis, not from exposure. Mesothelioma latency is typically 20 to 50 years, so workers exposed in the 1950s–1980s are being diagnosed today.
Practical first steps
- Document what you remember. Pay stubs, W-2s, union cards, photographs, coworker names, and dates of employment. The WorkChain widget on this page can save a copy you can email yourself.
- Preserve medical records. Pathology reports, biopsy results, imaging, and pulmonary-function tests are central to both civil claims and trust-fund filings.
- Identify household members. Spouses who laundered work clothing and children of plant workers are eligible for secondary-exposure claims when diagnosed with an asbestos-related disease.
- Speak with an asbestos attorney with Illinois experience. The first conversation is free and confidential. Asbestos trust-fund claims and civil claims run on different tracks — both can be pursued in parallel.
Asbestos-Related Diseases
Asbestos fiber exposure can cause several specific diseases that typically appear decades after the original exposure. The latency period — the gap between exposure and diagnosis — usually runs 20 to 50 years. That's why workers exposed in the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s are receiving diagnoses today.
Mesothelioma
A rare, aggressive cancer that affects the lining of the lungs (pleural mesothelioma), abdomen (peritoneal), or heart (pericardial). Mesothelioma is almost exclusively caused by asbestos exposure, which is why a mesothelioma diagnosis often points directly to historical workplace exposure. Average latency from first exposure to diagnosis is 30-50 years.
Asbestosis
A chronic, non-cancerous scarring of lung tissue caused by inhaled asbestos fibers. Asbestosis causes progressive shortness of breath, persistent cough, and reduced lung function. It does not improve with treatment, and it is a recognized basis for compensation under most trust schedules and civil claims.
Lung Cancer
Asbestos exposure significantly increases the risk of lung cancer, particularly when combined with a history of smoking. Asbestos-related lung cancer is compensable under the same trust schedules and civil claim avenues as mesothelioma.
Other Recognized Diseases
Pleural plaques, pleural thickening, laryngeal cancer, ovarian cancer, and certain gastrointestinal cancers are also recognized as asbestos-related under various trust schedules and case-law authorities, though eligibility and proof requirements vary by claim type.
If you have any of these diagnoses and you worked at this facility, lived with someone who did, or were exposed in any documented capacity, you may have a claim worth pursuing. Speak with an attorney before assuming you don't qualify.
Data Sources
Information about facility equipment, industrial materials, and occupational records referenced on this page is drawn from publicly available sources where applicable, including:
- EPA ECHO Facility Compliance Database — enforcement and compliance records for industrial facilities
- OSHA Establishment Search — federal workplace inspection history
- EIA Form 860 Plant Data — power-plant equipment and ownership records (where applicable)
- Illinois Environmental Protection Agency NESHAP asbestos abatement notification records
- Published asbestos trial and trust fund records (publicly filed court documents)
- AsbestosIndex Product & Manufacturer Crosswalk — historical asbestos-containing product schedules linked to manufacturers
If specific equipment or product claims in this article are sourced from a non-public database, the source is identified parenthetically within the text above.