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SPOTLIGHT St. Anthony’s hosted “Go Pink and Red,” a community event for women’s breast and heart health, at the South County Holiday Inn on Saturday, Feb. 1. More than 200 women came to the event to check out the booths and presentations.
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Community Outreach St. Anthony’s works to build a healthier community
2 BY THE NUMBERS
St. Anthony’s gives to the community
3 IN YOUR WORDS
How do you serve your community?
6 LIVING THE MISSION
An interview with Mary Sherfy
B Y
T H E
N U M B E R S
St. Anthony’s Community Outreach • 2013
459
School supplies donated by St. Anthony’s employees to Jefferson County Salvation Army and Circle of Concern of West County:
185 1,000+
Number of classes and events hosted by St. Anthony’s
94 304
Backpacks
Spiral notebooks and other school supplies
Families adopted last Christmas by St. Anthony’s employees through the Jefferson County Salvation Army and Lemay Feed My People.
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Individuals received gifts.
4,500+ 234,831
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St. Anthony’s employees raised money to donate AEDs (automated external defibrillators) to community groups in Affton, Arnold, Imperial, Fenton, Sunset Hills and South St. Louis County.
878 548
$
Number of attendees at St. Anthony’s outreach events
$
COMMUNITY HEALTH NEEDS ASSESSMENT
Community members surveyed by St. Anthony’s for feedback on their health needs through our first Community Health Needs Assessment (CHNA).
TOP SPOTLIGHT
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Families helped through grants given by St. Anthony’s to local school districts’ Parents as Teachers programs.
234,831
Amount raised by St. Anthony’s employees for the 2013 “We Care, We Share” campaign. Proceeds benefited the United Way, the hospital’s employee crisis fund, and five funds of the St. Anthony’s Charitable Foundation.
Get Fit South County
Community outreach events by attendance
Senior Day at the Movies Go Pink and Red for Women Baby Fair Sweet Dreams sleep event Survey Says Weight Loss & Nutrition lecture
349 257 231 204 176 176
How do you serve your community? Our Winner:
I had a daughter born prematurely at St. Anthony’s, and she spent seven days in the special care nursery. My coworker, Brittany Sinclair, and I started a March of Dimes team for premature babies. With the help of our SAPO employee donations and walkers, we were able to raise $2,000 last year.
Beth Mora
Medical Assistant, SAPO I work as the evening house manager with volunteer ushers at the Fabulous Fox Theater. This is a magnificent, historical venue. It is rewarding to know that those who come to the performances have a great experience and know the value of this historic theater. Jesse C. Weilmuenster, R.N., B.S.N. Operating Room I serve as president for the Philippine Community Center, Inc., a non-profit organization trying to build a Filipino Community Center in the greater St. Louis area. St. Louis is the only major U.S. city that does not have a community center. This year, we are directing all funds raised to help typhoon victims in the Philippines. Maria Ali Khan, MT (ASCP) Microbiology Laboratory
My daughter and I just started Dazzle Me Dresses through Facebook. We accept donated formal dresses and prom dresses, and give them to young girls who can’t afford to buy a dress. Our hope is to be able to help families all around the area, and to never hear of a girl who can’t afford a nice dress for her dance. Melodie Strange Field Hospice
I work with kindergarten children at the First Baptist Church of De Soto during our Awana program. I enjoy when the children get excited about learning different stories in the Bible. I am also on our church’s “Institutional Safety Committee.” Kris Schmitt Medical Technologist, Lab
I am currently a volunteer R.N. at a prolife, non-profit organization called “Life Network of Southern Illinois” in Waterloo, IL. This organization provides free medical services and counseling. The women also participate in a program called “Earn While You Learn,” where they attend child birth, breast feeding, parenting, and life skills classes. In return, they receive points where they can get numerous free baby/ maternity supplies, such as diapers, wipes, formula, etc. Anna Osterhage, R.N., B.S.N.
I have been an active member of the Junior League of St. Louis for 23 years. I am also a member of the Mothers’ Club for St. Joseph’s Academy, and am presently serving on the Cookbook Committee for Angel Food III. I attend Our Lady of Providence Parish, and am a member of the Women’s League and serve as a Lector for Masses. I enjoy meeting new people and being of service to the community, especially when I can use my dietetics background.
Cardiovascular Care Unit
Betty Amelotti, R.D., L.D.
In my “spare” time, I coach K-2nd grade basketball through our church. It is a Christian-based program called UPWARDS. The children learn basketball skills along with getting to know Jesus. I am 52 years old with three daughters (23, 19, and 17), so I love these little kids! Cyndi Cornett, R.N. Education Specialist
Nutrition Services
I belong to a great group of women who promote education by helping women of all ages with scholarships, loans, returning to school to complete degrees, etc. It is an international philanthropic education organization called P.E.O. We number millions across the nation. Nancy J. Welle, CCP Senior Compensation Specialist APRIL 2014
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Reaching Out
for a healthier community
M Lisa Galati, R.D., L.D.
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“Newtritious You” is just one of more than 100 ways St. Anthony’s employees go out into the community.
ary Blue of Cedar Hill readily admits her primary source for nutrition information was Dr. Oz and the Internet. “I was trying all sorts of things (to eat better),” said Blue. “I was extremely disappointed when none of those things worked for me.” Then, during a visit to her primary care physician, she picked up a copy of the Get Fit Classes and Events Guide and saw the information about “Newtritious You.” “I jumped at the chance to sign up,” said Blue. “There’s a lot of ‘hocus pocus’ out there, and I wanted to use these classes as a turning point to change the way I looked at food.” And they did. “Newtritious You” is a free, six-week, in-depth wellness, nutrition and lifestyle program that focuses on affordable, lifelong, healthy eating behaviors rather than quick fixes. St. Anthony’s dietitians Lisa Galati, R.D., L.D., and Cathy Feldmeier, R.D., L.D., medically recognized experts in nutrition, specifically developed this program for those seeking nutrition recommendations that are based on science, along with tips on how to be motivated and make positive changes to be their personal best. “There’s such a demand in the community for reliable education about nutrition,” said Galati. “To offer a program like ‘Newtritious You’ for free is phenomenal. I believe it draws people in who want to make changes in their nutrition but don’t know how, and are ready to invest the time in a program that may just work for them.” “Newtritious You” is just one of more than 100 ways St. Anthony’s employees go out into the community. Whether through support groups (like Alcoholics Anonymous, prostate cancer, and New Moms Network), free screenings (biometric, skin cancer and varicose veins), bike helmet fittings, Meals on Wheels or AED donations, employees of St. Anthony’s give thousands of hours and hundreds of thousands of dollars to help the medical center’s neighbors. “I think our employees enjoy being able to help our community and provide information and reach out to people at a point when they are not in the hospital,” said Katie Rayfield, Community Outreach Coordinator. “We are trying to help people before they come to us, and I think community members find that meaningful.”
LEFT: St. Anthony’s hosts a wide variety of screenings every year, like this recent cholesterol and glucose test. CENTER: At an Audiology event, Lauren Felton, AuD, CCC-A, shows Richard Degonia and his wife, Judy, how to pair his hearing aids with his cell phone.
SPOTLIGHT SPOTLIGHT
St. Anthony’s Emergency Department hosted Girl Scout Troop 449 from Assumption parish on Tuesday, Feb. 18. In the photo, Paramedic Steven Clark of the Rock Township Ambulance District helps put emergency gear on Girl Scout Megan Schimpf in St. Anthony’s ambulance bay.
So do employees, who feel called to help those outside the hospital walls. Sacramental minister Rev. Bill Cardy, O.F.M., points to faith as the foundation for that calling. “Our Lord gave us the Commandments, which are the ‘shall nots,’” says Rev. Cardy. “Then, He does a flip flop of sorts and gives us the Beatitudes, which are the ‘We should.’ We should thirst for righteousness, be merciful, and be peacemakers. We are called to be in the marketplace, the soup kitchens and with the poor and suffering. St. James tells us, ‘For just as the body without the spirit is dead, so also faith without works is dead.’” (James 2:26) While we partner with many area organizations, including other faith-based organizations, fire departments, and community centers, our relationship with the school districts is one that has grown stronger over the past few years. St. Anthony’s sponsors five Parents as Teachers programs (see sidebar). Laura Bub, Community Outreach Coordinator for St. Anthony’s, has seen the results. “With the school districts, we have become more than a partner who just gives them money,” said Bub. “St. Anthony’s is now a resource for them that they didn’t have before. Because of that, I don’t think our community will ever tire to have us as a partner or a participant. I have found that they are eager and happy to have us there.” When Mary Blue started “Newtritious You,” she was also asked to start a small group at her church, Faith Community. Initially, she was going to start a genealogy group. Instead, because of her experience taking the “Newtritious You” program, she started a group to talk about, and help hold each other accountable to, healthy choices, including healthy eating. “I only have great things to say about ‘Newtritious You’ and the immediate changes it helped me make in my daily life.”
Each year, St. Anthony’s awards numerous college scholarships, including the Norbert Siegfried Scholarships for Sons and Daughters of Employees (2013 recipients shown at left), and The Foundation Academic Excellence Scholarship.
Jackie Flowers with her twins, Nick and Anna
A PARTNERSHIP with PARENTS
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hen Jackie Flowers found out she was having twins, she didn’t feel overwhelmed at all. “I was joyful,” she remembered. “The overwhelming feeling came about a month after they were born!” Anna and Nick Flowers are now healthy, happy three-year olds. And their mother feels calmer and more confident about her parenting skills thanks, in part, to the Parents as Teachers program in the Affton School District. Parents as Teachers helps professionals and organizations work with parents during the critical early years of their children’s lives, from conception to kindergarten. When state budget cuts for the Parents as Teachers program meant that many of the group educational sessions might be eliminated, St. Anthony’s stepped in and sponsored the Parents as Teachers speaker’s series in Affton and five other local school districts to keep this valuable resource for parents. “I attend as many of the speakers’ sessions as I can,” said Flowers. “They provide excellent education and socialization programs for my children and me.” Flowers believes that without the speakers’ series, she would have to take the time to search the Internet or read reams of paperwork to find good, reliable answers to questions all new moms have. Plus, she can actually ask those questions and hear responses to other questions that the other parents have. “We’d be missing out on a lot. Some of the school staff would have knowledge, but to have an expert in the field is very good.”
APRIL 2014
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An interview with Mary Sherfy, Director of Marketing, Communications and Community Outreach
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EDUCATION
B.A. in Mass Communications from Southern Illinois University
Sherfy confers with Katie Rayfield, Community Outreach Coordinator, about plans for upcoming community events for FY2015.
PREVIOUS POSITIONS
Senior Vice President with FleishmanHillard Founding Executive Director of Forest ReLeaf of Missouri Reporter with St. Louis Suburban Journals and St. Louis Sun
What does your job entail?
I oversee community outreach, communications and marketing, including advertising, publications, media relations, and online communications for St. Anthony’s. My responsibilities also include retail and volunteer services (Gift Shop, vending and volunteer management) and hospital communications services (information desks and hospital switchboard). I also serve as Administration’s liaison to the Medical Center’s Auxiliary.
How does community outreach tie into St. Anthony’s mission?
St. Anthony’s is a faith-based organization that has actively served its communities for more than a century. During the Great Depression, when St. Anthony’s hospital was located at the corner of Grand Boulevard and Chippewa Street, the Franciscan sisters were known for filling baskets of food and bringing them out to lines of people in need. Today, our Franciscan Outreach team sponsors canned food drives and actively supports food pantries in our region. We are true to our obligation as a faith-based medical institution to reach out into our communities to understand their health needs and how we can help address them. It is a great privilege to take care of patients, but the St. Anthony’s community cares about the health and wellbeing of those we serve well before they need our services. SPOTLIGHT
How can our employees help St. Anthony’s with its community outreach efforts? Every employee has the ability to be an ambassador for St. Anthony’s by simply letting their friends and neighbors know about the great health care and wonderful programs offered right in their own backyard. St. Anthony’s is a tremendous asset to the region. We serve a geographic area that encompasses nearly 30 ZIP codes and almost 290,000 households in St. Louis County, Jefferson County and southern Illinois. We are the largest employer in the south St. Louis County region. One of our greatest strengths is that our people are a part of the fabric of this region. They and their families live, work, play and worship in the neighborhoods, schools, churches and parks of this region. We care deeply about those we serve.
“One of our greatest strengths is that our people are a part of the fabric of this region.” Mary Sherfy
What is the best part of your job?
Hands down, the best part of my job is working in an organization whose staff is both highly talented and compassionate. St. Anthony’s truly is a community. It also is a great privilege to work with a highly committed and talented leadership team.
What’s something you’ve seen at St. Anthony’s that has really touched your heart?
My family and I have all experienced care here. On those days, I wasn’t the Director of Marketing and Communications. I was a wife, a mother or a nervous patient. In fact, during those occasions, very few caregivers even knew I am an employee here. What touched my heart is that highly talented people delivered excellent medical care compassionately to me and to my family. That represents the healing ministry of Jesus to me, and those experiences have forged my belief that this is a place where that ministry is still practiced daily.
Left: Sherfy, with Community Outreach Coordinator Laura Bub, cheers on the Academic All Stars in the Lindbergh School District. Below: Swearing in the 2013 Auxiliary officers.
Tell us about your family.
My husband, Dave, and I are empty nesters who currently spoil two Miniature Schnauzers. My daughter Kathryn (Katy), 28, is a clinical laboratory technologist and my daughter Elizabeth (Izzy), 24, is a nurse, so it appears the love for health care rubbed off!
What do you like to do on your off-time?
I am a theater geek, an avid reader and I love to cook, but mostly I have a passion for the outdoors. I’m a Midwest Italian farmer’s daughter who grew up in a noisy family of five (and I’m a twin) on a farm in Staunton, Illinois. My siblings and I still have the farm, and I own the original family farmhouse. It’s a great escape.
APRIL 2014
H O N O R I N G
E X C E L L E N C E
Congratulations!
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Joann Schramm, R.N.
St. Anthony’s Emergency Department recently received the South County Chamber of Commerce Renovation & Beautification award. The Chamber recognized the Emergency Department for its physical changes and improved service. Carl Hendrickson, Chamber Board of Director’s Secretary, said, “We want to recognize community members for the good they are doing. They are the true picture of who we are in South St. Louis County.” Joseph G. Lipic Sr., Chairman of the Board of Directors of St. Anthony’s Charitable Foundation, also was honored with the chamber’s Citizen of the Year award for his dedicated work in the South St. Louis County community.
Shelly O’Malley-Robinson, R.N.
St. Louis Magazine:
St. Anthony’s “Excellence in Nursing” Awards Finalists Kudos to Joann Schramm, R.N., and Shelly O’Malley-Robinson, R.N., who are finalists in St. Louis Magazine’s fifth annual Excellence in Nursing Awards. Readers sent in more than 200 submissions from across the St. Louis area, and the judges narrowed the field to 66 finalists in 18 categories. The people who nominated the nurses had to answer three essay questions about the nominee, and the nominee had to submit a resume. Joann Schramm, Labor and Delivery, was nominated by a patient who had her baby at St. Anthony’s. The patient wrote, in part: “You can be a great nurse but not be a good bedside nurse. I’ve experienced nurses who are excellent medically or technologically or academically. Joann is that, plus she exemplifies the mission of working at a Catholic community hospital. She cares about me, my family and our well-being, even until this day. I felt like she was an advocate for me every step of the way.” Shelly O’Malley-Robinson’s supervisor, Carol Ellis, R.N., nominated her in the education category. As part of the nomination, Ellis wrote:
Pictured above, from left: Eric Appelgren, M.D., Diana Calderon, R.N., Stephanie Austermann, R.N., Shannon Owens, CRN, Becca Czerniejewski, CRN, Cassandra Haddox, D.O.
“Shelly developed a Nurse Residency Program in response to the trends and needs for onboarding new nurses. It is the first year-long residency program which is not commercialized, to be offered at an acute care facility in the St. Louis area. The Nurse Residency Program (NRP) uses evidence-based principles to facilitate nurse retention, leadership, patient safety, and optimal outcomes while reducing costs associated with orientation and turnover. Survey results indicate job satisfaction and retention also improved. The average six-month turnover went from 8 to 0 percent post-residency implementation (retention rate 100 percent). These results are to be attributed to the structured clinical immersion, mentoring and debriefing, looping, competency validation and support-based NRP. Furthermore, the average yearly turnover went from 37 percent to 3 percent (yearly retention of 97 percent).” The winners will be announced at an event Wednesday, April 23 at The Chase Park Plaza.
Spotlight is published quarterly by the Marketing Department of St. Anthony’s Medical Center.
Writer: Anne Steffens, ext. 4947 Photography: Christy Siebert, ext. 4934 Graphic design: Stephen Walker, ext. 4767