Grateful to honor these health care professionals
The St. Louis American Foundation shares the goal of all who seek to ensure adequate, affordable health care for all –underserved communities, in particular. As an integral part of its mission, the St. Louis American Foundation has hosted the Salute to Excellence in Health Care event for 23 years honoring outstanding individual performance in health care for the African-American community in St. Louis.
While this community event is a longstanding tradition for the Foundation, we believe this year’s celebration of our health care heroes and the work they do is more important than ever. They are a perfect example of why we seek to encourage more young people to pursue growing opportunities in the health care field.
We want to return to a detailed report
released by the St. Louis Regional Health Commission that highlighted the failure of our health care safety net to provide for the region’s medically underserved. In the midst of irrefutable data documenting the system’s operational inefficiencies, perennial underfunding and missed opportunities for collaboration of safety net organizations, the report also identified an oasis of community health organizations and devoted health care providers who are striving to dismantle the systemic and nearly insurmountable barriers to health care for the indigent and often underserved. These tremendously committed and passionate health care leaders have demonstrated an unwavering devotion to the community and share the moral conviction that they cannot afford to stand idle while so many suffer from many preventable illnesses.
Our 2023 Salute to Excellence in Health Care awardees exemplify these values. Their productive careers demonstrate what’s right with health care in St. Louis. They understand that every patient should be treated with dignity and respect and deserves the highest quality of health care possible. Also common among them is a shared belief that community-based programs can have a profound impact on eliminating racial health disparities. They help inspire our youth to want to pursue careers in science and health care and offer a compelling view on how a dysfunctional health care system can be reformed.
Since the inaugural Salute to Excellence in Health Care in 2001, we at the St. Louis American Foundation are proud to have honored nearly 250 outstanding African-American health care
providers at this annual event. We’ve recognized and celebrated the longstanding careers of lifetime achievers, while lauding and highlighting the current work being done by our Excellence in Health Care awardees.
We’re also looking toward the future and the likelihood that there will continue to be a shortage of nurses in particular into the next decade, in St. Louis and throughout the nation. We are extremely proud of a collaboration we started 11 years ago with the Deaconess Foundation and the Scholarship Foundation of St. Louis, that provides $125,000 worth of scholarships, every year, for local nursing students. As future caregivers, their work is vital to our community, and we look forward to recognizing some of them for their important work at future Salute to Excellence in Health Care events.
The St. Louis American Foundation’s 23rd annual
Salute to Excellence in Health Care Awards Reception
HONOREES:
Lifetime Achiever in Health Care
Michael Ward, Ph.D.
Stellar Performer in Health Care
Angelleen Peters-Lewis, Ph.D.
Community Mental Health Provider Award
Latosha Fawlkes
Field of Mental Health Award
Lizette Smith, Ph.D.
2023 Excellence in Health Care Awardees
Anna Bailey, M.D.
Roslyn Harvey
Marcus Howard
Melvin Maclin II, M.D.
Constance Jackson Payne
PRESENTING SPONSOR
Gold Sponsor BJC Health Care
Deaconess Foundation
Silver Sponsor Missouri Foundation for Health
Bronze Sponsors
A.T. Still University
Clark-Fox Family Foundation
SSM Health Care
Urban League of Metroplitan St. Louis
Media Sponsor
WSIE The Sound
Dr. John M. Anderson Excellence in Mental Health Award Sponsored by St. Louis County Children’s Service Fund
By JoAnn Weaver St. Louis American
What are your responsibilities in this position?
I am a doctor at Mercy and my specialty is in internal medicine. My responsibilities are seeing patients, whether new or established patients. I make sure they meet their healthcare maintenance goals, different treatment goals that they may have, and preventative medicine.
How do you feel you are able to make a difference in this position?
I try to set an atmosphere where we have open and honest communication. I tell patients there are two people you can’t lie to: you can’t lie to God and you shouldn’t lie to yourself. Then, the next person you should be honest with is your doctor because, at least in my environment, we’re non-judgmental. I just care about your health. I focus on what we can improve on your health. If someone tells me, “Oh doc, everything’s good, I don’t smoke,” but then their health is declining, we see the difference. Let’s say their [lab tests] may be off. We give them lifestyle modifications. Sometimes, they need medication and then they come back for follow-up and things have improved, they’re like “this works.”
People really do care about their health, whether they have issues in their personal life or they see a family member dealing with things. I help people to see the light and then walk in it. Even today, I was able to see it because people came back, they felt better. They liked where they’re headed in terms of their health, and that’s even more encouraging for people so that they continue to improve upon their health standard.
Tell us about your team and how they help you succeed.
We would be with one patient for an hour or two if we didn’t have a team. From when they first walk in the door, we have our receptionist that checks peo-
2023 Excellence in Health Care Awardee
Dr. Anna Bailey of Mercy Healthcare
ple in.
My medical assistants (MA) and nurse take the vitals and do a health history to make sure the medications and everything are still up to date. We have one MA that helps with some of the prior authorizations, which involves fighting with insurance. We wouldn’t be able to see about, on average, 20 patients a day. We get messages from patients every day that we have to respond to, including refilling medications and all these other communication between a specialist. It definitely takes coordination of care for things to be streamlined.
Tell us about a mentor and how that person guided you.
All along the way I had several dif-
Anna Bailey,
M.D.,
tries to create an atmosphere in which her patients feel comfortable to have open and honest communication.
patient care tech on labor and delivery. I mostly worked in the nursery, but also helped some of the mindful lactation consulting. I did that for about six months and then I transitioned to phlebotomy. I went around the hospital drawing blood and actually was pretty good at it. I did all that for about a year or so before even going to medical school. This was the job I got out of medical school. I’m just strictly outpatient now, but before I used to do a combination of outpatient and inpatient.
What are your thoughts on the Medicaid expansion in Missouri?
It is good because you have more people who now have access to quality healthcare. I have a ton of new patients and a lot of them have Medicaid but there’s not a lot of physicians out that are taking Medicaid and Medicare patients because with the extension reimbursement on certain things went away.
ferent mentors; even as far back as as an undergraduate in college. It was mostly my chemistry professor. I think I took maybe one class with him, and he became one of the assistant deans at Truman State University. I would go and talk to him like, “Hey, I’m trying to get into medical school, what do I need to do?” Even when he came to his course, they’re like, ‘Hey, here’s how you read, or here’s how you read this information. Here’s the questions to ask of any subject.’ I learned a lot from him.
Do you have a previous position that helped prepare you for this work?
I work with Mercy now, but even before medical school I worked at Missouri Baptist Medical Center as a
Sometimes they fight you on so much stuff that some physicians like, you know what, it’s too much of a hassle, so they stopped taking Medicare and Medicaid patients. But I’ve seen a lot of people and I’m like let’s help them get blood pressure together, get whatever together because they’ve gone years without treatment because they weren’t able to see anybody or they go to urgent care once a year or something like that because they didn’t have insurance. The expansion is good because, again, we’re giving people access to healthcare and to get their different health standards under control.
The downside of it is some physicians have stopped taking it because of reimbursement and some of the households that come with imaging getting approved or certain medication approved. They just don’t have a wide list of options or alternatives that we can choose from with Medicaid and Medicare.
Photo by Wiley Price / St. Louis American
2023 Excellence in Health Care Awardee
Roslyn Harvey – Affinia Healthcare Assistant Vice President of Health Center Operations
By JoAnn Weaver
The St. Louis American
What are your responsibilities in this position?
I manage approximately 28 staff persons that include nurses, medical assistants, and health center support clerks. I oversee three different locations for Affinia.
How do you feel you make a difference in this position?
One of the things I do is to make sure that I follow the mission of Affinia, and that I’m a strong advocate for the patient as well as for the staff; pulling that combination together.
We’re serving the community with excellence, to the best of our ability. We make sure that we’re addressing the needs that clients have identified, as well as needs that we help identify.
Tell us about your team and how they help you succeed.
Let’s go back to the last three years, basically with COVID, so we’ll say two and a half years. If I had not had a strong team that supported the efforts and the initiatives of the organization to provide COVID screening, COVID testing, COVID vaccination, then we would not have been able to do it. We could not have had three to five locations operating at the same time; vaccinating people, testing people. The nurses needed to be there. The health center clerks supported us by getting the documents and the paperwork together. It was all a team effort. Communication was essential, and the staff showed up and did what we needed to have done - inclement weather and all. I was supporting them, and they were supporting me.
Tell us about a mentor and how that person guided you.
One of my mentors was Betty Jefferson. She worked in the St. Louis City Health Department as well as Rochelle Clark, who also worked there. They mentored me in understanding that no matter what, you have to follow the rules. As long as the rules don’t violate your ethical codes, or anything pertaining to your license, you have to follow the rules and the guidelines.
Do you have a previous position that helped prepare you for this work?
Working in various positions at St. Louis City Jail, working at the city health department, working in New Jersey in a methadone mobile unit. It helps you to see the various people in the community. You’re serving with an array of customers through our patients, clients as we call them, in different venues.
Those roles helped me. I worked as far as in doing pediatrics for a period of
time in my nursing career, but the things that I’ve done with the city jail as far as a methadone mobile unit in Camden, New Jersey, and just being out in the community helped me to understand it’s a health department where the needs were, who you were serving, and how you can make a difference.
What are your thoughts on the Medicaid expansion here in Missouri?
I absolutely think it should be expanded. It gives everybody an opportunity to get the services that they need and the quality of services that they need. We have to be committed to making sure that if [a person] is at BJC or [another hospital], they are getting served as a human being, a person of dignity, with respect.
What are your thoughts about receiving this “Excellence in Healthcare” award?
I am ecstatic. It is such an honor, such a privilege, and as I prepare to go to the next phase of my life and my career and what I’m going to do and start traveling more and things like that, it’s such an honor and I’m excited about it. Yes, ma’am. Uh, is there anything else that you would like to add, a question I didn’t ask you that you would like to just add to this story?
No, I, I, no questions. I just think when you talk about mentoring, I think my mother was a strong mentor for me as well, um, because she taught us ethics. She taught me how to treat people fairly. She taught me how to make, to help assess people in life and know that there’s some people that will do anything they can to help someone else, and you need to always remember that that could be you at some point in time.
Roslyn Harvey is a strong advocate for her patients as well as for the staff at Affinia Healthcare.
Photo by Wiley Price / St. Louis American
2023 Excellence in Health Care Awardee
Marcus Howard –GreaterHealth Pharmacy and Wellness founder and CEO
By JoAnn Weaver St. Louis American
What are your responsibilities in this position?
My responsibilities include ensuring that the organization runs. That starts with business development. I have to make sure the business is financially sustainable. I am responsible for raising money, managing our budget, and finances. Everything except being a pharmacist.
How do you feel you are able to make a difference in this position?
GreaterHealth Pharmacy and Wellness is making a huge impact right now. We are changing the way people view pharmacy in our community, and that’s important because a pharmacy is one of the last touchpoints in a residence or patient’s healthcare experience. After they leave the doctor, their next experience is with a pharmacist. People in our community need “high touch,” which means they need somebody to talk to, they need to talk to people, and they must be able to come in. They need to be able to ask questions, and so as long as we are providing that type of service, it is really changing health and their health outcomes.
One of our patients was actually featured by a local media outlet, because she felt like we saved her life. She was a patient and over the age of 80. She was on almost 20 medications, and she talked about this on the news. Some of our services that we provide, one is called medication therapy management. It’s also called medication counseling. We sat down with her to make sure that she was taking the right medications with the right dosages and made sure that she was eating the right things. Her health steadily improved after switching her prescrip-
manager, Dr. Kenneth Powell. He really fits the mold of what a GreaterHealth pharmacist should be, which reflects in the care that he provides. He goes the extra mile.
The other core part of our team is our pharmacy intern slash pharmacy technician. Her name is Mary Ndung’u. She is originally from Kenya. She was a practicing pharmacist in Kenya and she wanted to move to the United States to be a practicing pharmacist here, and so she’s earning her intern hours to be a fulltime pharmacist here. She’s our full-time delivery driver as well. And so those two team members are the core of our team on a daily basis.
Tell us about a mentor and how that person guided you.
One of my earliest mentors was Maxine Clark, the founder of Build-ABear and the Delmar Divine Building, which we are located in. She was the person who reached out to me, took me under her wing, and passed down a lot of the business knowledge that she had.
Do you have a previous position that helped prepare you for this work?
tions over to us.
Just that one anecdote is what we have been seeing consistently across the community about just us improving. Our customer service makes people trust us. We’re building trust in relationships with people in the community, one that they’ve never had with a pharmacist.
We also provide free delivery, so people who necessarily wouldn’t be able to take their medicine on time, or if they run
out, are not able to get it on time because they don’t have transportation. We’re able to deliver it for free right to their door.
Tell us about your team and how they help you succeed.
[The team] is the most important part of this journey. As a CEO, I have to do everything outside the pharmacy. The people who actually offer the care are the team. The team is run by our pharmacy
I was the Chief Innovation Officer for an organization called Teach for America. It gave me the tools and the ability to lead my own organization. I was tasked with being “an entrepreneur” in that organization, creating new ideas and then spinning them off into small companies. I got that practice and confidence.
It was focused on people furthest away from opportunity, where there were students from low-income backgrounds who were Black and brown. That role also gave me the lens of always looking at solutions and always trying to create solutions for those residents.
Marcus Howard says GreaterHealth Pharmacy builds trust with the community through strong customer service. People are able to build relationships with a pharmacist like they never had before.
Photo by Wiley Price / St. Louis American
2023 Excellence in Health Care Awardee
Dr. Melvin Maclin II – St. Louis University Department of Plastic Surgery assistant professor of surgery
By JoAnn Weaver St. Louis American
What is your current health care position? What are your responsibilities in this position?
In addition to being assistant professor of surgery at St. Louis University Department of Plastic Surgery, I am the chief of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery at DePaul Hospital.
How do you feel you are able to make a difference in this position?
I just do the best job that I can right now. I’m not concerned about being the best or the most well-known. I’m just trying to take care of the patient to my absolute best. That’s been my mantra for a long time. My mom told me a long time ago “find something about every patient that you like.” My mom was a pediatrician.
Tell us about your team and how they help you succeed.
I have an amazing team. I have a wonderful coordinator. Her name is Erica. If you were to think of an aircraft carrier, she’s like the flight boss. She just tells everybody where they need to go and what they need to do, and she’s the glue that holds a practice together.
I have an amazing nurse who has been with me for over 18 years. Jenny’s amazing. When we first started out, everybody really wanted Jenny [as an employee.] She stuck with me because she could tell that I’m not doing this [job] just do it.
I have a very good [physician’s assistant] who came out of practice as a student; we do a pretty good job taking care of people. I mean, if you look at our reviews, you know, the reviews don’t just have my name in it. They have my entire team.
your life.
Do you have a previous position that helped prepare you for this work?
I don’t know if I really had any previous positions because I went from high school directly into college, completed college in four years, and then became director of College Honor Medical School and graduated second in class in medical school. Then, right from medical school into residency. This was all at Howard University in Washington, D.C. I completed my fellowship in plastics. And then I was with Park Rests plastic surgery in West County for about 15 years. It’s been very linear, but I think if you were to ask me what position I’ve held that has helped me the most in my career, I want to say my [martial arts] black belt experience has helped. I just finished writing a book, so that’s the way I can answer this on the many parallels between martial arts and surgery. Hard work, discipline, commitment, sacrifice, and challenges through adversity are things that you would think of that would help you, your black belt. They’re also the exact same skills required to be a successful surgeon.
What are your thoughts on the Medicaid expansion in Missouri?
Tell us about a mentor and how that person guided you.
First off, is my mom. Second is Dr. Clive O. Callender, and third is
Dr. LaSalle De Leffall Jr. Throughout my career, I used to do a series called ‘Mentor Mondays’ where I’d feature like, you know, someone who was influential in steering you in the right direction in
Healthcare is a right. Every individual is entitled to the health and wellbeing and maintenance of their body. It is not a commodity to be bartered or profited on. Medicaid expansion is just an extension of that, right? How do we implement it? The answer is, I don’t know. You know, the problem right now is that for-profit medicine is terrible and individuals suffer.
Melvin Maclin II, M.D., is chief of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery at DePaul Hospital as well as assistant professor of surgery at St. Louis University Department of Plastic Surgery.
Photo by Wiley Price / St. Louis American
2023 Excellence in Health Care Awardee
Constance ‘Connie’ Jackson Payne, Oracle Health senior clinical consultant
By JoAnn Weaver
The
St. Louis American
What are your responsibilities in your position?
I am currently working on the Veterans Administration project, in which we work with veterans’ hospitals, clinics. The department works to [help] veterans get their medical records as well as supporting what the physicians and nurses do.
I’m taking what I know from my nursing knowledge, and combining it with my computer knowledge to get the particular software that is needed for efficient healthcare.
How are you making a difference in this position?
I’m able to make a difference in my position because, with my years of charting experience, I decrease our time in charting. It is still clear and precise, but it doesn’t take hours and hours to get everything charted. I know things that are irrelevant to what nurses need, and I help cut down the steps so that nurses spend more time with our patients.
Tell us about your team and how they help you succeed.
I have a couple of teams. I have a team that’s actually on the job, and I have a team that’s outside of my job.
My team on the job is very, very eye opening. Anytime someone learns something new, trhy spread the joy in a sense. If anybody has a hiccup about something, we [discuss] different processes, and have advice meetings with individuals.
If you don’t understand something, just simply ask for help. [There is] always someone there to help you.
My outside team is my Black Nurse Association family. It’s just a wealth of resources because we have every walk of nursing.
and make sure that you are as successful as possible.”
She was hard on me because I wasn’t living to my potential, but as the years went on, she continued to help and guide me. Once I graduated nursing school, I had two jobs. My second job was with a home health company. She was the director over the nurses. We kind of came around full circle.
Do you have a previous position that helped prepare you for this work?
I had 21 years of experience as a nurse. I started off at Barnes Jewish Hospital. I spent about about 12 years there and then I left to do area contracting and serve as a travel nursing in the St. Louis area. I have worked at a multitude of places, in special care, home health, you name it, I have done everything except pediatrics.
I worked with United Healthcare for 10 years as a case manager as well as a medical reviewer. And then, I ended up with Oracle Health. I went back to school and received my master’s in business administration and healthcare management. I have the ability to use business aspects mixed with my nursing knowledge as well as being able to do healthcare management projects.
What are your thoughts on the Medicaid expansion here in Missouri?
We have the entrepreneur nurses, we have our doctoral prepared nurses. So if it’s anything that’s needed, it’s always someone there who can either direct you to the answer or help you find one. Oh, that’s beautiful.
Tell us about a mentor and how that person guided you.
My first mentor was while I was in
nursing school, when there were times where I wanted to give up. I was a non-traditional nursing student because I had already graduated with one degree and I went back to school. It was rough. I just remember her being a little harder on me than I felt like she should have been. She pulled me to the side and said, “I see your potential that you don’t see in yourself, so therefore I’m going to guide you
Yes, it should be expanded. Our elders really need additional care sometimes, and it totally breaks my heart to see how they sometimes must choose between medical treatment and medications and paying a bill.
It never should come down to choosing between taking care of yourself with a medication or an appointment or keeping your lights on.
Constance ‘Connie’ Jackson Payne’s charting experience takes paperwork time from nurses allowing them to spend more time with their patients.
Photo by Wiley Price / St. Louis American
Community Mental Health Provider Awardee
‘Mental health field chose me’
Fowlkes is president and CEO of The Core Collective at Saint Vincent
By Sylvester Brown, Jr.
The St. Louis American
Latosha Fowlkes says her goal of helping people is at the core of her service as a mental health provider.
As president and CEO of The Core Collective at Saint Vincent in North County her focus is on increasing access to services and working to reduce the stigma of mental illness in the African American community.
Reflecting on her career in mental health services, Fowlkes, who did volunteer work with youth while in high school, said she didn’t purposely choose the field.
“The mental health field chose me,” said, adding: “I was born to do this work.”
Since 1850, the Core Collective has been a source of support for youth in crisis. The agency is open 24/7, with therapists and counselors trained to help youth face mental and health challenges, work through their emotions, support their families and offer collaborative community support.
Empathetic to the needs of people, Fowlkes said she knew after high school graduation that she wanted to enter social work. She enrolled at Illinois State University with a goal of becoming a licensed clinical social worker.
Fowlkes interned at a residential treatment facility for young children with severe mental and behavioral health needs. She described the experience as a “merging of what I wanted to do in my heart, and what I wanted to do professionally.”
Still, she said her ambitions weren’t singularly about mental health; “it was just about helping people.”
After graduating from Illinois State in 2004 with a master’s degree in social work, Fowlkes said she continued working as a Licensed Clinical Social Worker - but with specific goals.
She wanted to “reduce stigma around mental health in Black communities,
ensure that Black and brown children are not misdiagnosed and over-medicated, encourage more Black and brown people to pursue careers in mental health and health care, address trauma associated with poverty that is often villainized or mislabeled, and advocate for systematic change around individual, family, and community well-being.”
After moving to the St. Louis area, she was hired by Doorways in 2020. The organization provides housing and related supportive services for people affected by HIV/AIDS. She described her time at the agency as a “life and career changing moment.”
“I really got to see how social work impacted all these different areas of people’s lives,” Fowlkes explained.
“Not only did it use housing and supportive services to improve the lives and health outcomes for people who had HIV and AIDs, it also served a majority Black
population, people who looked like me.”
At Doorways, Fowlkes, who is also a certified HUD housing compliance manager, managed more than 100 apartments throughout the city and county. In that role, Fowlkes said she was honored to build relationships with clients and their families and see up close “how transformation starts and how housing is a foundation for it.”
“If people don’t have access to housing and basic needs, they’ll never be able to focus on their overall health needs,” she said.
After serving as the executive director of The Good Samaritan House, a 30-day emergency shelter program for women with children, Fowlkes came to The Core Collective at Saint Vincent. This was in late 2020, months before the coronavirus pandemic struck the world.
According to a 2021 study by
Latosha Fowlkes is president and CEO of The Core Collective at Saint Vincent in North County. Her focus is on increasing access to services and working to reduce the stigma of mental illness in the African American community.
National Institutes of Health, both SARS-CoV-2 and the COVID-19 pandemic significantly affected the mental health of adults and children. Nearly half of Americans surveyed reported symptoms of an anxiety or depressive disorder, and 10% of respondents felt their mental health needs were not being met.
COVID, Fowlkes said, exposed the impact of mental and physical health on all communities but particularly on Black communities.
“[COVID] opened the door for “awareness that all people struggle with mental health,” Fowlkes said, adding that she’s grateful mental health care is now getting the voice it needs.
For a high schooler who didn’t necessarily envision a life committed to mental health care, Fowlkes is content.
“I am very happy in doing what I do. I love doing what I do.”
Field of Mental Health Awardee Haven of mental health
Dr. Lizette Smith helps bring mental health access to all communities
Dr. Lizette Smith says she is driven by the desire to bring mental health care to every community in the St. Louis area.
“It doesn’t matter where you live or what your zip code is,” she said.
“It is my passion, my mission to make sure there is access to mental health resources in underserved areas.”
Smith, Our Little Haven clinical programs director, will receive her Excellence in the Field of Mental Health award on behalf of the St. Louis County Children’s Fund in honor of the late great Dr. John Anderson.
Upon her arrival at Our Little Haven, she established its Keystone Outpatient Mental Health Services, which she calls her “first and major accomplishment.”
She directs oversight of other clinical programs; provides clinical supervision and is responsible for coordinating accreditation and legal/ethical practice and grant funding management and administration.
“I immediately created Keystone. I did everything. I did the scheduling, answered the phones, worked with the clients,” she said without boasting.
“We have grown into a staff of more than 20 people now, serving many more people.”
Keystone’s mission is to improve the mental health and well-being of clients, many who have limited access to mental health care, by decreasing symptoms and increasing functioning through early intervention.
It also specializes in treatment of the very young child, comprehensive psychological evaluations, play therapy, and treating complex conditions. Its staff treats difficulties faced by children, parents, and families, including depression, trauma reaction, anxiety, school problems, attention problems, disruptive behaviors, family and relationship problems, loss and grief, and parenting needs.
“We assess, screen, and evaluate adults, teens, children, and toddlers as young as 18 months old. We treat adults and we treat families with children 12
years and under. On request, we offer community education and professional training for agencies and practitioners who have similar treatment clients and missions to ours.”
No one is denied access to Keystone Mental Health Services due to inability to pay. It offers several resources to cover the costs of services, including a discount and sliding fee schedule available.
Almost two decades have passed since Smith joined Our Little Haven, but her zeal for the not-for-profit organization’s mission has not been diminished. The need to access mental health care in the Black community is also increasing, according to a recent Gallup Poll.
Black adults are reporting depression diagnoses at twice the rate of white adults, according to a recent Gallup study. Historically, white adults have surpassed Black adults in this area.
Poll results showed that 29% of people have been diagnosed with depression at some point in their lives — up 10% since 2015. 17% of adults currently have or are being treated for depression, a 7% increase since 2015. It is affecting women, young adults, and Black people at the highest rates.
Scott and Kathleen Hummel began the journey of creating Our Little Haven in 1989.
at the beginning of 1989. After collaborating with hundreds of social services and medical providers and creating a board, it opened in 1993 with a capacity of 24 children.
The need was quickly apparent and soon 40 children were being served.
In addition to Keystone, Our Little Haven operates:
The Our Little Academy Day-Treatment Pre-School, a full day program
Lizette Smith, Ph.D., is the clinical programs director at Our Little Haven. Dr. Smith, (center), with her daughters
that provides therapeutic treatment in a preschool setting for children ages 3-5 who cannot participate in a traditional preschool/daycare due to behavioral or emotional problems.
The Taylor Family Care Center, which provides services for children and families involved in the foster care system due to abuse and/or neglect. It assesses the needs of children and families, arranges, and provides appropriate services and moves children into permanency within a specified period.
“Our Little Haven is relentlessly committed to providing early intervention services for children and families,” Smith said.
Smith received her B.A. and her M.A. in Minority Mental Health from Washington University, and her Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology from the University of Illinois, Champaign.
Stellar Performer in Health Care
The power of health equity
Angelleen Peters-Lewis is 2023 Stellar Performer in Health Care
By Kenya Vaughn The St. Louis American
When Angelleen Peters-Lewis was growing up in her hometown of Boston, she initially had dreams of becoming an attorney.
In her junior year of high school, she found herself pregnant. Instead of derailing her professional goals, the compassionate healthcare she received from a nurse as she dealt with the side-effects of her pregnancy put her on the path to purpose.
“I used to be ashamed of my story, but one person came up to me and said, ‘because of you, I realized I could go to school,’” said Peters-Lewis. “The opportunity to provide hope is not something I take lightly. And I really believe out of that moment – which seemed like the darkest time of my life –fueled my passion to serve and my purpose in terms of eliminating racial health disparities and serving along with other like-minded individuals to do that work.”
Thirty-five years ago, she was encouraged that she could complete her education and succeed at whatever she set her mind to by a nurse who made sure support systems were in place for her to thrive. Today, Angelleen Peters-Lewis, PhD, RN, FAAN is among the leadership of Barnes-Jewish Hospital, where she serves as vice president and chief operating officer. For her unwavering commitment to her field, Peters-Lewis has been named the 2023 Stellar Performer in Health Care by the St. Louis American Foundation. She will be among those recognized at the 23rd Annual Salute to Excellence in Health Care Reception at 5:30 p.m. on Thursday, June 23 at the Hilton St. Louis Frontenac.
“I am shocked and in awe,” PetersLewis said of the honor. “All I hope to do is play some small part in making it better to serve the patients and families who entrust us with their care. I don’t think of that as stellar. I just think of that as being a part of an amazing team.”
She originally joined Barnes-Jewish
Hospital in 2017 as vice president of patient care services and chief nursing executive.
Peters-Lewis fell in love with the organization’s mission during her first 100 days. Her commitment to “caring for the underserved and academic preeminence” has only grown stronger over the past six years.
“I’m inspired every single day by the innovation and discovery that happens here and our ability to translate that to the care patients receive,” Peters-Lewis said. “When you are in love with an institution and you are inspired by what it does, it makes it easy. I just feel privileged to be a part of it – and that keeps me going. I don’t find the work hard because I’m so passionate about it.”
She was promoted to her current position during the pandemic.
“Although it was without a doubt one of the most challenging times, it has also been one of the highlights of my career,”
Peters-Lewis said. “Every day – when our team showed up committed to caring for these patients no matter what – That was truly a highlight.”
She rightfully likened the work of her team during the pandemic to being on the frontlines of a battlefield. They had two goals – to keep their team safe, and to save as many lives as possible.
“We didn’t lose anyone on our team,” she said. “And we saved a lot of lives.”
Peters-Lewis also says that as people talk about the tragic losses of life, they should also be mindful of how many lives were saved because of the selflessness and sacrifice of health care warriors.
“I may have post-traumatic stress, but I feel that it was a privilege to serve,” Peters-Lewis said. “And that when the history books are written, and they talk about how many lives were saved that along with this team will go in the history books as serving when people needed us most.”
Angelleen Peters-Lewis, Ph.D., vice president and chief operating officer of Barnes-Jewish Hospital, is the St. Louis American Foundation’s 2023 Stellar Performer in Health Care. She will be among those celebrated at the 23rd Annual St. Louis American Foundation Salute to Excellence in Health Care Awards Reception on Thursday, June 22.
Peters became forever etched in her industry’s permanent records when she was recently inducted as a Fellow in the American Academy of Nursing (FAAN). The distinction is the highest recognition within the nursing profession. PetersLewis was also recognized in 2020 as one of Modern Healthcare’s Minority Leaders to Watch.
A dream redefined
During her high-school pregnancy, Peters-Lewis suffered from nausea so extreme that she had to be hospitalized. Her teenage mind couldn’t articulate it at the time, but as she received different levels of care during encounters with those charged with her care, she began to grasp the concept that emotional well-being and how you are treated is linked to how she felt physically.
Photo by Wiley Price / St. Louis American
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Continued from D17
“The days when I had a poor nurse, I actually felt worse,” Peters-Lewis said. “I realized that compassionate care in itself is a dose of medicine.”
Then she met a nurse who – in addition to providing excellent care – set Peters-Lewis up to succeed. She arranged for her to have a tutor when she was home sick. She made sure when PetersLewis returned to school that she had the right support to thrive academically as a young mother.
“She said, ‘if you still want to go to school, you can do that’,” Peters-Lewis said. “She told me, ‘You had a little bump in the road, but that doesn’t mean you have to lose your dreams.”
In that moment, the seed was planted. She knew she wanted to serve people in the same way – and made up her mind that she would pursue a healthcare career.
“I thought, ‘I’m not going to be that nurse or that health care provider that makes people feel less than,” PetersLewis said.
Not getting an education was not an option for Peters-Lewis, the daughter of Caribbean parents who immigrated to the United States from Montserrat and Trinidad.
“One of the positive things that I get from my parents is a spirit of resiliency –you don’t migrate from another country without some strength,” Peters-Lewis said. “To them, America was the pathway for education. And what that meant for us is that you were going to get educated whether you liked it or not.”
Peters-Lewis received her doctorate in nursing from Boston College, where she graduated with distinction and received the Dorothy A. Jones Award for Scholarship, Service and Development. She earned a master’s degree in nursing from Northeastern University and earned her bachelor’s in nursing from Simmons College in Boston. Her postdoctoral work included an executive nurse fellowship with the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the executive leadership development program at Harvard Business School.
“Sometimes I don’t even know I did it,” Peters-Lewis said. “The fact that I am very goal driven was a huge part of my success. So many people said, ‘you will never finish school. You will never go to college.’ That always served as a source of motivation for me.”
She is also constantly motivated – and encouraged – by her family. In addition to the son, Riis, she had in high school, she went on to have two more children. Her son is a pastor.
“I think about all of the lives he touched and if he hadn’t been here, what would have happened to all of the people connected to his destiny and purpose,” Peters-Lewis said. “I also have a daughter, Taylor, who is at University of Michigan finishing her PhD. My youngest, Treasure, is at Miami University of Ohio getting her degree in economics.”
Together she and her husband Keith
have a beautiful, blended family that includes a total of four children.
She sees her life and the generational blessings she and her family have experienced as a testament to the power of equitable health care – by way of the nurse who touched her life and all the people that Peters-Lewis gets to touch because that nurse did the right thing.
“My story, I hope, is one of hope, resilience – and that anything is possible with hard work and determination,” Peters-Lewis said. “My story is about what can happen when you commit to a population and remove barriers. It is not
about ability, it is about opportunity and the importance of creating opportunity for everyone, regardless of background. Her story is also about paying it forward.
“The same barriers that were removed from me, I want to remove them for others,” Peters-Lewis said. “Not just for people to have leadership roles in this industry, but for patients to have access to the very best healthcare.
I am a woman of faith and I often say, ‘I have a favor that I didn’t ask for – and I certainly don’t deserve – but I can share it with everyone else.”
Angelleen Peters-Lewis on her college graduation day from Simmons College.
Photo courtesy of Angelleen Peters-Lewis
By Chris King
Lifetime Achiever in Health Care
Dr. Michael Ward dedicated to serving healthcare diversity
For The St. Louis American
Dr. Michael Ward’s remarkable career merits not one but two awards for Lifetime Achievement in Health Care: for his work in radiology and nursing education. He recently retired after 48 years of service with BJC HealthCare. Twenty-three of those years were devoted to the Mallinckrodt Institute of Radiology at Barnes-Jewish Hospital, and the last 25 years were dedicated to Barnes-Jewish College in various leadership roles - most notably, as the Vice Dean for Student Affairs and Diversity & Professor for Goldfarb School of Nursing at Barnes-Jewish College.
Though a lifer at BJC, which is affiliated with Washington University, he was educated at two other local universities. He received his bachelor’s degree in radiologic science from St. Louis University, where he graduated Magna Cum Laude. He also holds a Master’s degree in Educational Administration from the University of Missouri – St. Louis and a Doctor of Philosophy degree in Higher Education Administration from Saint Louis University.
The St. Louis American spoke with Dr. Ward about his illustrious careers, his voluminous board commitments, his educational arc, his home city’s treasures, and troubles, and what he plans to do with his well-earned retirement.
The St. Louis American: As Vice Dean for Student Affairs and Diversity & Professor at Goldfarb School of Nursing, what programs or systems did you put in place to diversify faculty and students?
Dr. Michael Ward: The Vice Dean for Student Affairs and Diversity placed me on the Executive Cabinet of the college. In this position, it was important to concentrate on the needs of the students as the focal point. Most of them have entered nursing pursuing a dream to help others and to serve the community. A significant percentage of those students are first generation and have put their family lives and income on hold while going to college to
complete their nursing degree.
The Student Affairs departments and team members worked to support the needs of students by creating scholarship programs that were aimed at supporting diverse students (based on financial need, minority status, males, since nursing is predominantly female) and merit based with clear and unbiased criteria. We created a Mentor program that paired entering undergraduate and graduate students with seasoned staff nurses or nurse leaders who could guide them through the early stages of their program of study. These relationships provided a means of connecting with someone who was working in the field and could share common experiences that reinforced their common passion for nursing.
I worked very closely with the creation and promotion of the Emergency Compassion Fund, in collaboration with the BJH Foundation, to financially support students who had financial emergencies (loss of job - especially during the 2.5 years of COVID) and family emergencies
(house flooding, fires, illness, etc.) that would impact the student’s ability to either attend school or could have sidetracked their progression. These emergency funds were there to see the student over that hurdle and continue attending school. While at the college, I was pleased that we provided over $400,000 worth of financial support for students in need and beamed with pride when seeing them cross the stage at graduation, knowing the struggles that they were able to overcome.
The college also implemented a Strategic Plan called the “Path to Distinction” where I strongly pushed and supported the needs of students and the focus on diversity, equity and inclusion as a foundation and thread across the entire strategic plan.
The St. Louis American: What progress can you show?
Dr. Michael Ward: New positions were created within the Student Affairs division that were designed to support student advisement, career opportunities,
Michael Ward, Ph.D., at the Goldfarb School of Nursing on the campus of Barnes - Jewish Hospital. Dr. Ward recently retired after 48 years of service with BJC HealthCare.
student engagement, financial aid literacy and mentoring programs. We partnered with external partners (high school counselors, science teachers, Girls Inc., Boys Hope/Girls Hope and other agencies) to expose more individuals to the vast opportunities available in the nursing field. This aided the college to expand the numbers of minority students (including males) entering the undergraduate and graduate programs.
Once students applied, they were paired with an Admissions Advisor and Financial Aid Counselor who became their central point of contact and guided them through the admission and financial aid application processes. Once enrolled, every student was assigned an Academic & Student Support Advisor who supported them through their academic progression. There was additional progress demonstrated through student-focused policies, student support organizations that provided ways to engage with other students and
Photo by Wiley Price / St. Louis American
SALUTE TO HEALTH
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Continued from D21
the community, along with opportunities to serve on college faculty and staff committees, serve as members of the Strategic Plan Committee, participate in updates to the Board of Trustees of the college and the Alumni Advisory Council.
The St. Louis American: Your education was from SLU and UMSL, but your professional affiliations were with WashU/BJC. Why is that?
Dr. Michael Ward: Straight out of high school, I entered the Radiologic Technology program offered by Washington University through Mallinckrodt Institute of Radiology. After completing this two-year, hospital-based program, I successfully passed my board exam and continued working for the Department of Radiology for 23 years (serving in various teaching and leadership positions), while completing my higher education on a part-time basis.
I achieved my BS degree from Saint Louis University in Radiologic Sciences (with a minor in education), completed a Master in Education degree program majoring in Educational Administration and finally went back to SLU to complete a PhD in Higher Education Administration. Once I completed my PhD, I made a career shift into a higher-education administration role at what eventually became Barnes-Jewish College, where I had worked for the next 25 years of my career prior to retiring at the end of 2022.
The St. Louis American: You have had extensive board commitments with professional organizations. Why is so much effort put into that work? What did you get out of it? What contributions did you make?
Dr. Michael Ward: I have always had a desire to get involved with leadership positions in my work life, church life and professional life. I was very fortunate to have people in my life who saw something in me that demonstrated an ability to contribute in a leadership capacity. So, with my desire and their encouragement, I pursued committee work and later put my name forward for elected positions. Once I found out how much satisfaction and joy came with serving in these roles could bring, I was hooked!
I obtained the opportunity to influence policies, elevate practice standards, improve educational standards, represent the radiologic sciences at the local, state,
national and international level and meet so many colleagues and professionals that I now consider friends. I was able to build bridges across the radiologic sciences that took me across the world, work with the International Atomic Energy Agency, the World Health Organization, and national associations that represented Asia, Australasia, Europe, North and South America and Africa.
At the time of becoming the 96th Fellow of the American Society of Radiologic Technologists (ASRT) in 1988, I was one of youngest in my profession to achieve this professional honor. In 1999, I was the second African American elected to become the 97th President of the ASRT. In the over 100-year history of the ASRT only 40 individuals have been honored with Life Membership. In 2011, I was
recognized as the 23rd member of ASRT to achieve their highest honor.
The International Society of Radiographers and Radiologic Technologists represents the interest of radiology professionals across the entire globe. I served on the 90-member council representing the United States for over 10 years before eventually being elected as the first American to serve as President (a four-year elected position).
The St. Louis American: They say you are “retired.” What does retirement look like for someone as active as you? What work are you still doing? What new projects have you been able to pursue?
Dr. Michael Ward: I have only recently retired and still believe that I am new at
not feeling like I have to be rushing from one thing to the next. It only took me a few weeks to get used to a slower pace, and I have enjoyed the gift of having time to do things that are not constrained by schedules and limited time.
I am still very active in church. I attend St. James AME Church and serve as Pro-Tem of the Board of Stewards. I am on the Advisory Board for the Collegiate School of Medicine and Bioscience, where I serve on the Executive Committee and chair the Committee on Nominations and Governance. I’m active with the St. Louis Community College where I am the Chairman of the Advisory Committee for the Radiologic Technology Program.
I am spending more time going to the movies, the symphony, the gym and meeting friends for lunch or dinner.
Dr. Michael Ward on a vacation trip to Africa.
Photo courtesy of Dr. Michael Ward
What does it mean to be a nurse?
People often think of someone standing at a hospital bedside delivering pain medication, helping patients into wheelchairs and providing comfort and encouraging words.
But there’s much more to this time-honored profession than meets the eye. Nurses are found throughout hundreds of specialties requiring a wide variety of skills.
As BJC HealthCare celebrates its 30th anniversary as a health care system, we acknowledge all the ways in which nursing has evolved and changed. But one constant has remained—providing extraordinary care to patients and their families.
An Evolving Profession
Nurses have been around for centuries, but today nursing is one of the largest health care professions with more than three million registered nurses in the U.S., according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Nurses work in every aspect of health care, bringing equal levels of compassion and expertise to health systems locally and nationally. They work in wound care, patient advocacy, and teaching and training, spotting hidden problems or irregularities, documenting medical history and symptoms, and information technology.
Dr. Tommye Austin, the senior vice president for patient care systems and BJC’s chief nurse executive, celebrated her 34th year as a nurse this year. She spoke about the positive changes she’s seen in nursing, including an expansion and flexibility in what a nurse can do.
“We were required to start as medical-surgical nurses even if you wanted to be, say, an ICU nurse,” Austin said. “If I tried to do that today, I would have people who would not come into our organization. So, things have really, really changed.”
Counteracting the Nursing Shortage
It’s no secret that the nation’s health care systems are experiencing a nursing shortage in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic. But this is not a new problem.
Salute to Nurses
“There was a nursing shortage when I started as a nurse in 1989,” Austin said.
“Hospitals were fighting and offering all kinds of things for us to join their organizations.”
Health care organizations have been working for decades to attract, recruit and retain extraordinary nurses.
The Barnes-Jewish College Goldfarb School of Nursing brings nurses into Barnes Jewish Hospital early in their educational experience, with the goal of easing the transition to clinical practice and encouraging the students to stay with BJC HealthCare.
“We want nurses who make sure that they create a welcoming environment for new graduates consistently, so those students want to come to their units,” she said. “During this time, after the pandemic, individuals who are very welcoming have really helped our organization to retain staff.”
Looking to the future
After a few uncertain years, nursing teams and the administration at BJC HealthCare are steadily building and rolling out new programs designed to make nurses’ dayto-day easier and recruit and retain a diverse and extraordinary workforce.
In February of this year, BJC fully rolled out an app allowing nurses at Missouri Baptist Medical Center and Christian Hospital to pick up additional shifts. BJC’s human resources also recently implemented a program where nurses and other clinical and non-clinical staff can get paid daily to prevent issues with delays in income.
“We are knocking it out of the park,” Austin said. “I see a lot of technology, and a lot of processes that will be improved. These are tough times but these are also
exciting times because we get to design that.”
Austin also noted that her team has opened the nursing delivery care system at BJC to more associate’s degree nurses and licensed practical nurses to diversify and enlarge the nursing pool. She estimates that opening these positions allows for at least 1,000 more potential candidates.
“We all learn together,” Austin said. “It enriches the environment and it does impact the patient experience. It comes down to having different lived experiences, and having curiosity.”
What Austin really wants people to know is how seriously nurses take their roles, and how dedicated they are to their patients.
“It’s not just a job, it is our ministry,” she said. “And it is an honor and a privilege because people are so vulnerable when they’re sick. When nurses show up and really hone their craft and provide good care to patients and families, you can see it. It’s palpable.”
Dr. Tommye Austin
