RX: Teamwork: SSM Health St. Mary’s Hospital

In the same way it takes a village to raise a child, it takes a coordinated team of medical experts to keep a woman healthy.

SSM Health St. Mary’s Hospital is developing a care model that networks all aspects of a patient’s diagnostic and treatment needs. As part of that effort, the hospital has hired women’s health nurse practitioner Sue Kendig, JD, WHNP-BC, FAANP, to the newly created position of women’s health integration specialist. She is helping to build a seamless model of women’s care in which all members of the SSM provider team—and the patients—communicate effectively and efficiently.

“Women’s health is an extra-important area of health care,” Kendig notes. “Women are busy employees, parents and caregivers for families. They juggle a lot, and don’t necessarily make their own health care a priority. We support them in changing that. We only can have healthy families if we have healthy women.” Kendig will help provider teams in and outside the hospital ensure that each woman receives all the services she needs, instead of disjointed episodes of care from different offices.

Pam Lesser, director of perinatal services, describes the effort in this way: “Say I’m a middleaged patient visiting my SSM gynecologist, and the doctor notices my blood pressure is high and I have a heart murmur. Under the system we’re building, that doctor won’t just tell me, ‘Go see a cardiologist.’ There will be a system linking me directly to cardiology services to make sure I get that care.” She says the idea is to connect inpatient providers, pharmacists, nutritionists, therapists, doctors’ offices, diagnostics—every service that touches the patient’s situation. Kendig describes her position as a ‘behind-the-scenes navigator’ for all these providers.

“At the heart of our care is a truly patient-centered model,” says Dr. John Hoff, a SLUCare gynecologic oncologist practicing at St. Mary’s. “My partners and I believe exceptional care happens at the intersection of high standards, evidence-based medicine and shared decision making. It’s intended to promote the exceptional level of patient outcomes and satisfaction we would expect for our very own family members.”

SSM Health St. Mary’s Hospital offers the following services through its Women’s Health program: breast care and surgery, endometriosis care, obstetrics and gynecology, women’s cancer care, heart and vascular services, maternal-fetal medicine, midwife services, women’s sexual dysfunction care and urogynecology.

The hospital’s effort to streamline women’s care is being funded through a partnership with the family of the late Rosetta Boyce Kyles, mother of Cedric ‘The Entertainer’ Kyles. Rosetta was a cancer patient at St. Mary’s and pledged support to the women’s health program before her death. Kendig says she wants to honor that commitment by making sure the same high-quality, integrated care is available to all women in the St. Louis area.

Pictured: Dr. Stephanie Schnepp, left, consults with Sue Kendig.
Photo Courtesy of SSM Health

SSM Health St. Mary’s Hospital provides an integrated team approach to women’s health care. Pictured on the cover, clockwise from left: Dr. Jennifer Moore, Dr. John Hoff, Sue Kendig, Dr. Stephanie Schnepp, Dr. Stephanie White. For mroe information, call 866.SSM.DOCS (776.3627) or visit ssmhealth.com/stmarys. 
Cover design by Julie Streiler | Cover photo courtesy of SSM Health