Glennon S S M H ealth C ardinal G lennon Children’s Foundation
glennon.org
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Neonatal Intensive Care Unit in Missouri
Cliffhanger After Cliffhanger, a Young Patient Defeats a Rare Disease page 24
page 8 2023 – 2024, Volume 42
VIEWPOINT
Dear Friends of SSM Health Cardinal Glennon Children’s Hospital,
I
n my first few months of serving as the President of SSM Health Cardinal Glennon, I have been amazed constantly at the strength, resilience and commitment of our staff and our patients. It has been an incredibly insightful period, during which I have had the privilege of getting to know our dedicated medical teams and gaining a deeper understanding of our Hospital’s Mission and connection to the community and families we serve. Every doctor, nurse and caregiver is devoted to the same goal: to see every child who walks through the doors of the Hospital walk out healthier. The unwavering commitment to patient care and excellence that I have witnessed from each one of our staff members is remarkable. Their expertise, compassion and teamwork are the foundation of our Hospital’s reputation, and I am confident that we will achieve great things in the days and years ahead. In this issue of Glennon magazine, you will read about some amazing new things going on at SSM Health Cardinal Glennon: an exceptional new program in orthopedics, why you may see some adult patients walking the halls and our youngest bone marrow transplant patient ever. As we look toward the future, we continually explore what it means to be at the forefront of pediatric medicine and how we can best serve our patients and families. I have devoted my career to making sure our children have access to the best care we can offer, because they deserve the very best. On behalf of everyone at Cardinal Glennon Children’s Hospital, thank you for your support. We look forward to sharing more news with you in the coming months about the future of this amazing hospital! Sincerely,
Hossain Marandi, MD, MBA, FACHE President, SSM Health Cardinal Glennon Children’s Hospital System Vice President, Pediatric Service Line, SSM Health
Contents
42
24
32
20
FEATURES
EVENTS
20
42 Glennon LIVE 43 Scoops of Fun 44 Homers for Health 46 Glennon Sunday 47 Glennon Golf 48 Glennon Gallop
24 28 32
A Rare Connection Cardinal Glennon Orthopedist Dedicates Practice to Rare Diseases
The Perils of HLH Cliffhanger After Cliffhanger, a Young Patient Defeats a Rare Disease
Adult Congenital Heart Program Serves Grownups Born With Heart Defects
Improving the Quality of Care The Value of Simulation Training
28 52
DEPARTMENTS GLENNON 6 AROUND Find Out the Latest News
Benefiting The Children’s Fund Benefiting Footprints℠ Palliative Care Keeps Kids in the Game
Where Faith and Healing Unite Benefiting Music Therapy Benefiting The Danis Pediatric Center
50 Glennon Card Shoppes 51 Dierdorf-Pronger Golf Classic Benefiting SSM Health Cardinal Glennon
CORNER 18 CORPORATE CK Power GUILD 36 GLENNON Glennon Card and Junior Board
MIRACLE 40 CHILDREN’S NETWORK 2023 CMN Ambassadors
THE EXPERTS 56 ASK Headaches and Concussions in Children and Teens
AMBASSADORS 58 GLENNON How to Stay Connected
Benefiting The Dan Dierdorf Emergency and Trauma Center
BOARD 62 DEVELOPMENT Message from the President
Benefiting The Children’s Fund
FRIENDS 64 GLENNON Supporting Cardinal Glennon Kids!
52 Sun Run 54 Light Up Glennon
Brightens the Lives of Patients
ARE THEY NOW? 74 WHERE Makailya Pickrell
ON THE COVER: Glennon kid Mikey glennon.org 2023 – 2024 • 1
Glennon Volume 42 Published annually by SSM Health Cardinal Glennon Children’s Foundation
BOARD OF GOVERNORS Most Reverend Mitchell T. Rozanski Chairman of the Board
Dear Friends of SSM Health Cardinal Glennon Children’s Hospital,
This has been such an exciting year at SSM Health Cardinal Glennon! We are so blessed to have the support of generous donors from the St. Louis
Chrissy L. Nardini President of the Board
community and beyond who help us enhance our
David L. Taiclet Sr. First Vice President
world-class programs and services for kids today and
Galen D. Bingham Second Vice President
for generations to come!
Molly N. Cline Secretary James F. Whalen Chair, Finance/Investment Committee
While we look toward the future, we must maintain focus on the present and the amazing things being done right now at
Sandra S. Koller Foundation President
SSM Health Cardinal Glennon. New advances in cardiology,
Hossain Marandi, MD Hospital President
orthopedics and cancer care are just a few of the things you
Douglas P. Long Assistant Secretary
will read about in this issue.
Margaret B. Barrett Brian C. Behrens Tony Berg Andrew P. Blassie Cheryl C. Boushka Phillip C. Boyd James G. Brennan Clayton C. Brown Anthony J. Caleca Joseph Caro Matthew L. Carr Sharon A. Cliffe Susan R. Conrad William M. Corrigan Jr. Robert Q. Costas John R. Costello Timothy J. Danis Daniel L. Dierdorf John F. Eilermann Jr. Kelli J. Fabick Jeremy Fotheringham Mark J. Fronmuller Reverend Monsignor Vernon E. Gardin Dennis G. Gipson Kristin J. Guehlstorf Shawn Hagan Sherlyn Hailstone John F. Herber Jr. Thomas E. Hilton Nicole Holland-Hong Leslee Holliday
Lawrence P. Keeley Jr. James G. Koman James B. Lally John D. Lee Robert G. Leonard W. Dudley McCarter Thomas P. McMillin Dennis M. O’Connor, MD Bhavik R. Patel Christopher R. Pronger John S. Ross Jr. Brian D. Rothery Sister Mary Jean Ryan, FSM Molly M. Sansone John A. Schreiber Christopher A. Smith Steven R. Smoot Daniel J. Sullivan Kelvin J. Taylor Sr. Linda K. Tracy Greg J. Twardowski Sumit Verma Kevin L. Williams
All of us at SSM Health Cardinal Glennon are so grateful to every one of you who supports the Hospital in some way — financially, by attending an event or by lifting us up in your prayers. We could not do what we do without you! As we enter the season of thanks, please know how grateful we are for you. With heartfelt gratitude,
Sandy Koller President
Benjamin M. Albers President, Development Board Jerry R. Herbert Chairman, Knights of Columbus Board of Visitors Laura K. Baylis Co-President, Glennon Guild
To share a grateful patient experience, a donor story or a volunteer effort, please contact Todd Wise, Director of Marketing and Events, at 314-577-5605 or todd.wise@ssmhealth.com.
SSM Health Cardinal Glennon Children’s Foundation
Liam Rhoades
THEN THEN: Liam Rhoades was born at 24 weeks
gestation at SSM Health St. Mary’s Hospital. Weighing only 1 pound, 1 ounce at birth, he is the survivor of a set of twins. It was a long journey in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) for the next several months. He had a grade-4 brain bleed soon after birth, hernia repairs, a gastrostomy tube placement for feedings, a ventriculoperitoneal shunt placement due to increased intracranial pressure, frequent transfusions and so much more. Liam developed a condition known as bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD), a form of chronic lung disease that affects newborns, especially those born prematurely. It results from damage to the lungs caused by mechanical ventilation respirators and long-term oxygen use. A tracheostomy was placed in March 2019, and Liam “graduated” from the NICU to the transitional care unit in September 2019 with the goal of getting home. Liam was followed by multiple services at SSM Health Cardinal Glennon Children’s Hospital, including, but not limited to, Child Life, Footprints℠, pulmonology, neurosurgery,
NOW general surgery, urology, otolaryngology, occupational therapy (OT), speech therapy, physical therapy (PT), music therapy and social services. He remained in the Hospital until home nursing and an appropriate home ventilator could be found. Liam and his family received additional layers of support from programs such as complex care and Special Needs Tracking and Awareness Response System (STARS). The staff was dedicated to helping teach Liam’s mom, Amy, to feel successful performing all his clinical care at home. Liam finally was discharged with a tracheostomy, home ventilator, home tube feedings, multiple therapies and more in March 2020, amid the coronavirus crisis.
UPDATE: Liam has made great strides since
his discharge in 2020. He just celebrated his 5th birthday in September, loves everything “Blaze and the Monster Machines” and is in his third year of pre-K. He no longer needs the ventilator, and his tracheostomy will be closed in the spring. Liam is active with PT, OT and speech therapy through SSM Health and is a happy and active young boy.
HOW YOU HELP
through innovation, compassion and excellence
1,300+
Nationally ranked care
critically ill newborns and children transported yearly to SSM Health Cardinal Glennon using our fleet of Mobile Intensive Care Units
ONE OF ONLY
8%
of hospitals nationwide to achieve Magnet status
60 MILLION
$
in community benefit annually by SSM Health Cardinal Glennon, including charity care, education, outreach programs and more
3
new facilities to improve and extend access into St. Louis City, North and South County and beyond
OUR MISSION: Through our exceptional health care services, we reveal the healing presence of God.
1
ST
hospital in St. Louis to establish direct departmentto-department telemedicine programs for Neonatal Intensive Care Units and Emergency Departments
4 • SSM Health Cardinal Glennon Children’s Foundation
1
ST
neonatal transport program in St. Louis
WHO YOU HELP
Your support makes exceptional care possible for thousands of children
66,700+
200,000+ children each year
visits to The Dan Dierdorf Emergency and Trauma Center each year
impacted by the programs and services of SSM Health Cardinal Glennon Children’s Hospital
4,200+
annual visits to the Knights of Columbus Developmental Center, funded in part by the MO and IL Knights of Columbus
300
children with complex illnesses and their families receive comprehensive support through our FootprintsSM program each year
0
20,000+ visits are made to The Danis Pediatric Center each year
children turned away
1,400 patients each year receive instruction and advocacy from our Shining Star School
700
of our tiniest patients receive exceptional care in The Dana Brown Neonatal Intensive Care Unit each year, the #1 NICU in Missouri
glennon.org 2023 – 2024 • 5
AROUND GLENNON / FIND OUT THE LATEST NEWS
Schwartz Rounds®: Sharing and Compassion
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capacity crowd turned out to hear four faculty and staff softly relive events and share their emotions as each recalled a specific time when they cared for a patient and their family. The frank presentations — some highlighting the emotional toll following the unexpected death of a child — brought tears to those listening. In many corners of the room, employees, faculty and staff nodded and understood. They also had experienced similar emotions. Soon, many in the audience began sharing their own thoughts. “It was beyond helpful to hear the panelists speak first,” says one attendee, Briana Miller, MS, ATR, PLPC, an art therapist in hematology/oncology. “They touched on some of the harder
around the world. “When we experience hard things, we often put our heads down and just keep doing our jobs,” says Miller. “However, the grief doesn’t go away when ignored; it festers and grows until it becomes too much, and then you can’t ignore it anymore. We’re not indestructible. We need support at times, too.” “Half of the program was devoted to open sharing, which creates this culture of ‘we are Briana Miller, MS, ATR, PLPC (left), art therapist in hematology/ not alone,’” agrees Angie oncology, talks with Angie Filipiak, MSN, RN, NEA-BC (right), Filipiak, MSN, RN, NEA-BC, Care for Caregivers program manager program manager of the Hospital’s Care for Caregivers Schwartz Rounds will be held Program and a member of the quarterly with different topics and panelists. It is another resource for SSM Health Cardinal Glennon’s own Care for Caregivers program. Filipiak’s full-time position is funded by donations to SSM Health Cardinal Glennon Children’s Foundation. It enables her to be proactive steering committee that brought throughout the Hospital, checking Schwartz Rounds to the Hospital on employees at all levels and as a valuable resource for all providing confidential one-to-one employees. “I was surprised at the opportunities for them to open up amount of sharing. It was standing and share thoughts. “It can be in my room only in the back. The response office, in a department or over the and participation highlight the fact phone,” says Filipiak. “Our trained that we are all human and we all are peer supporters and I listen, offer impacted by the care we provide, self-care and coping strategies or the people we interact with and additional resources, and show the patients them that someone cares.” and families Filipiak’s full-time position is the we serve.” first within SSM Health systemwide. Plans are in the works to create Schwartz Rounds is a more positions like hers and to safe opportunity for broaden the reach of Schwartz hospital physicians, Rounds. “It’s OK not to be OK and nurses and staff to listen to, and share, to ask for help,” Filipiak stresses. their experiences of “You can’t take care of somebody caring for patients unless you take care of yourself.” and families
“They touched on some of the harder realities of the work we do in a way that welcomed us to share our own experiences in a safe and comfortable way.” realities of the work we do in a way that welcomed us to share our own experiences in a safe and comfortable way.” The SSM Health Cardinal Glennon Children’s Hospital event was the second Schwartz Rounds, a caregiver program offered in health care organizations throughout the United States and
6 • SSM Health Cardinal Glennon Children’s Foundation
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Empowering Patients Through STEM Activities
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he Shining Star School is one of many ways our compassionate team helps patients maintain a normal routine while at SSM Health Cardinal Glennon Children’s Hospital. Our teachers communicate with the child’s school to coordinate assignments and lessons and ensure they do not fall behind while in the Hospital. Often, our teachers will incorporate STEM activities — science, technology, engineering and math — to spark an excitement for learning. “Our job is to bridge educational gaps and provide a different style of teaching. Learning about patients’ interests is one way we can encourage conversation and come up with a STEM activity to expand their interests and motivate them to experience new things,” says Brenda Wilson, one of three Shining Star School teachers. Children can learn to apply STEM concepts in real-life situations by engaging in hands-on experiments and projects. STEM activities are offered bedside or in the classroom, depending on the patient’s treatment plan. Activities are offered for all ages and developmental levels. STEM projects have several benefits for children admitted to the Hospital. Engaging in STEM activities can provide a sense of normalcy and distraction from their medical condition, helping to reduce stress and
Brenda Wilson, Shining Star School teacher, works with a patient to complete her STEM project
anxiety. It can also provide a creative outlet for self-expression and boost self-esteem. Additionally, STEM projects can stimulate cognitive development, problem-solving skills and critical-thinking abilities. These activities can also foster a sense of curiosity and love for learning, which can benefit children’s overall educational journey.
St. Louis County Children’s Service Fund Renews Support
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he Right Start Program at SSM Health Cardinal Glennon Children’s Hospital was recently awarded a grant from the St. Louis County Children’s Service Fund (CSF) for the 2023 – 2026 Core Funding Cycle to support uninsured and underinsured patients ages 19 and under who reside in St. Louis County. SSM Health Cardinal Glennon has been a recipient of CSF funding since 2012, improving access to mental health services, including diagnostics, psychiatry services and individual
and family counseling for County youth and families. Services are offered at Cardinal Glennon Children’s Hospital, at St. Luke’s Hospital in west county and via telemedicine. The St. Louis County CSF is Missouri’s largest children’s service fund, dedicated to connecting children and families to quality, accessible mental health services and treatment. CSF has invested more than $550 million in nonprofits and other agencies serving St. Louis
County kids since 2010. For more information about the Right Start Program, call 314-577-5667. For an immediate mental or behavioral health need or crisis, please call 988 or the Behavioral Health Response’s Youth Connection Helpline at 844-985-8282.
glennon.org 2023 – 2024 • 7
AROUND GLENNON / FIND OUT THE LATEST NEWS
Cardinal Glennon Top NICU in Missouri cover feature
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.S. News & World Report has named SSM Health Cardinal Glennon Children’s Hospital as one of the best neonatology programs in the country, and we are proud to bear the designation of the top Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) in the City of St. Louis and the State of Missouri! In Missouri, 1 in 10 babies are born prematurely every year, with about 1 in 5 of those babies being so sick or so small that they require a stay in a NICU. At SSM Health Cardinal Glennon, our staff of neonatologists and other caregivers care for our tiniest patients in The Dana Brown NICU, a Level IV unit, the highest standard of care for newborns. “It means that families can trust us to do the best for their babies,” says Amit Mathur, MD, SLUCare neonatologist at SSM Health Cardinal Glennon. “Every one of us is working hard to get their babies well and home.” In our all-private unit, families experience comfort, privacy and
the most personalized care possible from a staff of dedicated physicians, nurses and other caregivers who are committed to giving these tiny patients the best chance at a healthy future.
As a result, our NICU consistently is recognized by U.S. News & World Report and other organizations for excellence in quality of care, education and research.
Family-Centered Care At SSM Health Cardinal Glennon, we employ an approach called Family Centered Care, which recognizes the unique role parents and other family members play as decision makers and advocates for their child. It encourages open dialogue between families and health care providers, and respects different cultures, traditions and coping styles. Simply the Best The infants who receive care in The Dana Brown NICU are living proof of the consistently exceptional care our team delivers. Thanks to ever-improving diagnostic techniques and the latest technology, babies born as early as 23 weeks have excellent odds of surviving and living healthy lives.
SSM Health Cardinal Glennon Nationally Recognized, Locally Loved
Ohmni Robots Empower Patients At SSM Health Cardinal Glennon Children’s Hospital, Ohmni Robots redefine the hospital experience for confined patients. Ohmni is a fully mobile telepresence robot that combines high-def video with audio for seamless and engaging remote collaboration. A recent highlight involved patients engaging in a special holiday event with Kendra Cares, where patients customize jewelry from the Kendra Scott Color Bar™. Beyond festivities, Ohmni Robots empower patients to encounter external people and experiences, transcending the confines of their room. These robotic emissaries serve as conduits for connection and joy, acknowledging caregivers and providing patients with tokens of strength and resilience. A Kendra Scott team member interacts with a patient, confined to their hospital room, by use of the telepresence Ohmni robot
8 • SSM Health Cardinal Glennon Children’s Foundation
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Build-a-Bear Kiosk
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uild-A-Bear’s mission is simple: “Placing a heart in a furry friend that brings to mind warm thoughts of childhood, friendship, trust and love.” At SSM Health Cardinal Glennon Children’s Hospital, our commitment is to children and helping them heal. When Build-A-Bear approached Cardinal Glennon Children’s Hospital about being the first children’s hospital in the nation to have a kiosk, it was a perfect match. With the help of Build-A-Bear, a kiosk was installed in the Hospital to provide 24-hour access to the kids, families and staff of SSM Health Cardinal Glennon. The hope for the kiosk is to provide a special moment when families need it most. Lindsay Minner of Build-A-Bear says, “Our whole mission is adding a little heart to life. We want the child and family to have one moment — a moment of not thinking about the appointment or the bloodwork. A moment of picking out a furry friend and dressing that furry friend. If you’re
Above: Maxine Clark, founder of Build-A-Bear Above, right: Maxine Clark and Lindsay Minner, manager, real estate and wholesale, test new kiosk
getting fitted for a helmet, your furry friend has a helmet.” A kiosk may seem like a small thing, but this partnership between Build-A-Bear and Cardinal Glennon Children’s Hospital gift shop allows our patients and families an opportunity to pause and connect, no matter what hour of the day or night. And that idea holds a lot of heart.
Celebrities Giving Back 1
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1 Bob Costas and Tim McGraw visit The Costas Center 2 Leslee and Matt Holliday visit with a patient 3 Patient shows Matt Holliday his extensive baseball card collection 4 Tim McGraw visits with nurses
glennon.org 2023 – 2024 • 9
AROUND GLENNON / FIND OUT THE LATEST NEWS
Celebrating Employee Giving Employee partnership makes us a stronger workplace. Generous support of the 2023 iCare, iGive Employee Giving Campaign makes a difference for patients and families, and it touches the lives of each employee at SSM Health Cardinal Glennon Children’s Hospital. A special THANK YOU to our employees for choosing to care!
10 • SSM Health Cardinal Glennon Children’s Foundation
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“The Enduring Gift” Donor Wall and Celebration
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ach April, during National Donate Life Month, SSM Health Cardinal Glennon Children’s Hospital and Mid-America Transplant host a celebration to honor those who have saved lives through the gift of organ and tissue donation. “I took over helping with the donor wall and the memorial over 15 years ago,” says Mary Grace Dunham, RN, a pediatric intensive care charge nurse. “In collaboration with Mid-America Transplant, we wanted to find a way to honor the children and their families who gave the gift of life and assure them they still have our support, and that we have not forgotten.” Families receive an invitation to the celebration with a chance to view their loved one’s name plaque, showcased in a hospital hallway near the pediatric intensive care unit. The event begins in the hospital chapel, where SSM Health Cardinal Glennon staff and members from Mid-America Transplant welcome the families. Hospital pastoral care helps lead in prayer during the service, while Child Life staff give family support and provide siblings with memory-making opportunities. This year’s guest speaker was heart recipient, Jimmy Williams. “The opportunity to speak directly to these families was an honor. They are learning how to live with their loss. I am learning how to live in honor of it,” says Jimmy. Each family receives a keepsake as donor names are read. Families are encouraged to share a story of
Dedicated in April 2010, “The Enduring Gift” memorial showcases patient names who have enriched the lives of others through the gift of organ and tissue donation
their loved one. Many use the opportunity to also thank the hospital staff and guest speaker for giving them comfort, reassurance and support. “It was so nice to come together with others who have suffered the loss of a child and made the decision to help others through donation,” says mother Corinne Shelby. “It was healing to just be there, to witness others honoring their loved ones and to visit with families who understand. I am so grateful to the Hospital and to Mid-America Transplant for creating this beacon of light for families who have experienced the most unimaginable heartache.”
UPDATE 2022 – 2023 Issue 4-year-old TJ Williams underwent complex heart reconstruction surgery after advanced imaging technology, called fourdimensional flow magnetic resonance imaging (4D Flow MRI), helped doctors detect a rare combination of congenital heart conditions. TJ underwent surgery in April 2022 to correct a narrowed aorta, a heart valve defect, abnormal pulmonary veins and a hole in the upper chambers of his heart.
UPDATE: A year and a half after his surgery, TJ is a happy,
caring kindergartner. He goes to church on Saturdays and watches football with his dad on Sundays. “He is passionate about all sports, though I think baseball and football have
A happy Williams family as TJ entered kindergarten earlier this year
become his top two,” says his mother, Bianca. “We were able to enjoy a few Cardinals games at Busch Stadium, and now that football season is here, we’re going to try to take him to a live game. To look at him now, it’s still just amazing how he’s showing us that nothing in life can slow him down!” glennon.org 2023 – 2024 • 11
AROUND GLENNON / WHAT’S YOUR HIDDEN TALENT?
What’s Your Hidden Talent? Art can inspire joy, give voice to the disenfranchised and evoke memories. In the case of the two health care professionals highlighted in this regular feature on hidden talents of the SSM Health Cardinal Glennon Children’s Hospital family, art also helps them achieve balance in life.
Kalika Groaning, BSN, RN Nurse, Transitional Care Unit
Kalika Groaning’s talent for art presented itself early. To the amazement of her preschool teachers, Groaning was coloring inside the lines by the age of 3. She took art classes in high school, not college, and Groaning never put down her paintbrush. For the past decade, Groaning has been creating portrait oil paintings that explore a vast range of topics, including celebrity culture, racial identity, homelessness, gender identity and mental illness. In her new series, “Beauty Behind the Madness,” Groaning paints images of an iconic doll to explore the endless identities that women juggle and sometimes hide. Groaning says her goal is to create conversations about the experiences of her subjects, including her own as a mixedrace female. “People’s stories inspire me,” says Groaning, who sometimes interviews her subjects before painting them. “I like capturing every wrinkle, every detail so you can feel their emotion. You can imagine what the person’s life might be like just from looking at their face.” Painting also provides her with more than a creative outlet to decompress. “What I love about both my passions is the connection I get to build with my subjects and patients,” she says. “When I share my story with others and when my patients and their families share their stories with me, I find this great space, this common ground. People like to get caught up in our differences and conflicting views, but we all have similarities. We just have to be willing to find them.” Groaning’s paintings have been featured in area art galleries, including Framations in St. Charles and Soulard Art Gallery, as well as at various art festivals. To view more of her paintings, go to kalikaroseart.com.
Kalika Groaning poses with some of her paintings
12 • SSM Health Cardinal Glennon Children’s Foundation
Jamie Sutherell, MD, MEd
Pediatric Cardiology Professor of Pediatrics, Vice Chair of Education, Department of Pediatrics Jamie Sutherell’s paintings blur the boundary that lies between art and reality. He practices a style of painting known as hyperrealism in which paintings resemble highresolution photographs. Dr. Sutherell draws on photographs, memories and sketches to translate his wildlife and landscape observations into paintings, some of which take up to 90 hours to create. “The joy for me is in creating something that resembles life,” says the mostly self-taught artist. “With my wildlife paintings, I want someone to see the spark in the animal’s eyes. I want them to reach out and expect the fur to feel real. With my landscapes, I want to evoke a memory or an experience. That’s my connection.” Initially, Dr. Sutherell planned for a career as a medical illustrator but with his strengths in science and communication, he felt he could serve more people as a physician. Since medical school, Dr. Sutherell has used painting to unwind and grow as a physician. “Painting is all about observation,” he says. “It’s about seeing how the shadows fall, how the colors change. What’s more important than observation in the health care profession, especially in pediatrics because our patients may not be able to tell us how they feel? The more observant you are, the better able you are to draw conclusions and care for that patient.” About five years ago, Dr. Sutherell established Artful Clinical Observation, a required afternoon session at Saint Louis University School of Medicine that uses art as a vehicle to help third-year medical students develop observational skills that can be used in a clinical setting. Dr. Sutherell does not sell his art — at least not yet. He shares his paintings with family and friends and donates some to charity.
A wildlife painting by Dr. Jamie Sutherell
GLENNON FAMILY TIES
/ AROUND GLENNON
Glennon Family Ties Those of us who work at SSM Health Cardinal Glennon Children’s Hospital think of ourselves as family related by a Mission to serve others. Some of us, however, actually are related by heredity and choose SSM Health Cardinal Glennon as our second home. Meet some of these “Glennon Families” in this regular feature.
SISTERS
Victoria “Tori” Zanaboni and Mia Ratz Q: What was your inspiration to work at SSM Health Cardinal Glennon? Tori Zanaboni, BSN, RN, CPN, charge nurse in The Costas Center: Being a Catholic institution, Cardinal Glennon always has inspired me with its Mission and values. During my seven years here, my job has become much more of a vocation. Cardinal Glennon has inspired me to continue its Mission through exceptional care and devotion to our patients and families. Mia Ratz, BSN, RN, CPN, oncology nurse coordinator/nurse navigator in The Costas Center: I was inspired to work at Cardinal Glennon after hearing about the connections that both the families and employees feel here. You truly can focus on the patients and their families during their times of need. My sister was a big influence on me. Her love and devotion to this institution and to the patients really inspired me and showed me that working here isn’t just a job, it’s a calling.
WORKING TOGETHER
MOTHER, COUSINS, SISTERS
MaryKate Farmer (daughter), Jenny Burford (niece), September Noonan (mother) and Grace Noonan (daughter) Q: What was your inspiration to work at SSM Health Cardinal Glennon? MaryKate Farmer, RT(R), Interventional Radiology: I always wanted to work with children. My mom has been at Cardinal Glennon my whole life, and it seemed fitting. I like how we get to know patients throughout the Hospital. Jenny M. Burford, RN, MSN, FNP-C, Footprints℠ Palliative Care Team: My connection probably started when I volunteered at Glennon during high school. Seeing my mom (Mary Alonso) work here her entire career and feeling fulfilled made me pursue the NICU after nursing school. Families let me into their lives at a time that can be stressful and scary. I appreciate their trust and want to do what I can to help advocate and support them as they navigate the world of their medically complex child. September Noonan, BSN, RN, Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU): I have been in the NICU at Glennon for 36 years. I love working with the babies and seeing their progress over the days to months they are in the unit.
Tori: Mia and I are extremely close! We went to grade school, high school and college together. It’s special to have her working with me now. She has such a wide range of knowledge about critical care. Mia’s advice and clinical expertise is so helpful.
Grace Noonan, registrar, Imaging Department: Hearing stories from my mom and sister inspired me to help children. I’m still in college, but when I heard about this job, I knew I should take it to get a feel of what I want to do in my future.
Mia: My favorite part about working together is bouncing ideas off Tori and getting her advice. It’s also nice to go to work and see my best friend. It makes the day that much more fun! We often find ourselves talking on the phone for more than an hour in the evenings, even after working together all day!
WORKING TOGETHER
Tori: Even patients I have taken care of for years sometimes can’t tell us apart! Mia: We both work in The Costas Center, and I like to joke with patients that because Tori is my big sister, basically she is my “other boss.” We support each other throughout the day and build each other up when it gets busy or stressful. Patients and families often get us mixed up. We are used to responding to each other’s names.
MaryKate: Numerous times I’ve done portable X-rays in the NICU on patients my mom or cousin are caring for. Jenny: Seeing my family at work speaks to how Glennon makes you feel a part of a family when so many of your own family members choose to work here. My extended family gets together every Sunday because family relationships are so important to us. I have a family I’m related to, and I have my Glennon family as well. September: I love working at the same hospital as my family. I see MaryKate when she comes to the floor to do portable X-rays, or if I need to take patients downstairs for radiology exams. I also enjoy seeing Grace when she comes up to say “hi.” Grace: Jenny’s mom died of cancer, and we honor her every year by sponsoring a golf tournament and donating the money to The Costas Center. You can find her name outside one of the NICU rooms. glennon.org 2023 – 2024 • 13
AROUND GLENNON / 2024 EVENTS AND PROGRAMS
2024 Events and Programs Mark your calendars to join us at one of our many upcoming events and programs. From country music to a fun run, you’re sure to find an enjoyable way to get involved! 2024 Events and Programs
Glennon LIVE April 6, 2024
Glennon Sunday
Glennon Sunday June 2, 2024
Glennon Gallop September 21, 2024
Glennon Golf Classic September 6, 2024 Wine, Dine and Divots | A White Hot Affair
Presented in partnership with Columbia Golf Club
A 30 Year Tradition
Saturday, September 13 G ATES OPEN AT 3:00 P . M . | K RÄFTIG P OLO C LUB
Field-side Pa
Field-Side Party September 21, 2024
Glennon Card October 18 – 27, 2024
Sun Run October 13, 2024
Light Up Glennon Every December
For more information, visit glennon.org.
14 • SSM Health Cardinal Glennon Children’s Foundation
Psalm 127:3
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AROUND GLENNON / GLENNON AROUND THE GLOBE
Glennon Around the Globe From Dominica to St. Louis
Neonatologists Colleen Claassen, MD, and Robert Fleming, MD, (center) with Dominican nurses Sister Lorie James Humphreys (left) and Sister Magdalene Georgia Joseph (right) at Cardinal Glennon Children’s Hospital
O
n the small island of Dominica in the Eastern Caribbean, the time has come to turn the tide on a high neonatal mortality rate. A local collaboration of neonatal nurses, rural district health centers, the regional hospital and the Ministry of Health are addressing this issue with the help of the international nonprofit World Pediatric Project (WPP), Rotary International and Forest Park Rotary (FP Rotary), and SLUCare neonatologist Colleen Claassen, MD, from SSM Health Cardinal Glennon Children’s Hospital. “We want to limit neonatal death and infections here,” says Sister Lorie James Humphreys, Ward Sister for the Neonatal Unit in Dominica. “Infection is the number one problem in our neonatal survivors.” Sr. James Humphpreys is one of two neonatal nurses who arrived at SSM Health Cardinal Glennon in late July to spend a week observing and learning best practices in the Hospital’s neonatal intensive care
unit (NICU). The Dominican nurses also spent time at SSM Health St. Mary’s Hospital observing delivery room resuscitations, immediate newborn stabilization and nursing leadership. “We are here to have discussions and learn more about ways to treat infections and prevent complications in our small babies at home,” says Sister Magdalene Georgia Joseph, supervisor for the Neonatal Unit at Dominica-China Friendship Hospital in the capital city of Roseau and the only formally trained neonatal nurse in all of Dominica. The two Dominican nurses recently traveled to St. Louis as part of WPP’s Left to Right: Brian Kohlberg, FP Rotary; Dr. Fleming, Sr. James Humphreys, Dr. Claassen, Sr. Joseph and Linda Boyland, World Pediatric Project
16 • SSM Health Cardinal Glennon Children’s Foundation
Eastern Caribbean Neonatal Care Program, an initiative that focuses on regional capacity building and training to empower local doctors and nurses on best practices to improve the health of babies born on the island. According to the World Health Organization, Dominica has one of the highest neonatal mortality rates in the Caribbean — 28 per 1,000 births (2021). WPP’s program includes sending U.S.based health care specialists to
GLENNON AROUND THE GLOBE
various Caribbean islands as well as bringing their counterparts to St. Louis. “It was our first capacitybuilding program implementation that is not specific to surgical or diagnostic care,” says Linda Boyland, MBA, WPP’s vice president of development. “By having a broad public–private partnership and working together, we can help identify gaps in care and work with ministries of health to address those gaps and save babies’ lives.” It is not about “haves” and “have nots” in terms of resources. Rather, it is focused on best practices and systemic changes, such as empowering bedside nurses to assess and provide care as needed and for educating physicians, nurses and others to work as a team.
to the island since 2018, providing clinical coaching and education on respiratory management, resuscitation, nutrition and infection control. “We have reinforced Baby’s Own Special Space (BOSS), a zone around a baby where we focus on best hygiene practices,” says Sr. James Humphpreys. “We also reinforce other hygiene practices, such as wiping down the rails and the incubator and making sure we have good hand hygiene. These are all evidence-based practices we make sure are in place.” Sr. Joseph adds, “We’ve already limited visitors to our NICU to prevent infection. We also encourage mothers to leave their phones in baskets provided next to the door upon entry to the rooms,
/ AROUND GLENNON
Dr. Claassen with Sr. James Humphreys in Dominica
SSM Health Cardinal Glennon provides many of the specialists to WPP who collaborate with counterparts throughout the Caribbean. In many cases, children can come to St. Louis for specialized care and/or surgery. At other times, doctors travel to Dominica because these are some of the and other islands to provide care things that hold germs that can be and education. passed on to the neonates.” The impact of this cross-cultural, Helping Babies Breathe is cross-national initiative can easily another program implemented in be seen in the life of young Xavier. Dominica and other low-resource Born 11 weeks early, Xavier is what settings that focuses on addressing Dr. Claassen calls “a premature care steps to treat breathing difficulties success story.” He was treated for in babies immediately after birth. breathing difficulties soon after Funding for some of the initiatives, birth and cared for by the dedicated as well as equipment used in nurses in Dominica. When Xavier Dominica, has come from Rotary and his mother returned to the International and the local FP Rotary. hospital for a well-baby checkup, “We have raised money to they saw Dr. Claassen who was provide medical back on the island for another supplies for on-site care collaboration. “Xavier WPP since was born premature at 29 weeks 2019, first for and weighed just 1.5 pounds. He St. Vincent has survived without complications and then for from prematurity, which can include Dominica,” neurodevelopment impairments notes Brian or chronic lung disease,” says Kohlberg, FP Dr. Claassen. Rotary’s grants She adds, “It is a testament to chairman. the hard work and dedication of the nurses, doctors and government in Dr. Claassen and Sr. Joseph (center) Dominica that we are seeing more with district midwives success stories like this, and why we upon completion of a Helping Babies Breathe strive to improve neonatal care in a course in Dominica sustainable partnership model.”
“...we can help identify gaps in care and work with ministries of health to address those gaps and save babies’ lives.” Robert Fleming, MD, a neonatologist at SSM Health Cardinal Glennon, has been working with WPP’s Eastern Caribbean Neonatal Care Program in St. Vincent and the Grenadines for more than a decade. Through that collaboration, three other teams have come to St. Louis for observerships. This was the first nursing team to visit from Dominica. Dr. Claassen serves as the neonatal specialist for the Dominica partnership. She has made five trips
glennon.org 2023 – 2024 • 17
CORPORATE CORNER
CK Power employees participate in many community events as part of CK Power’s culture
CK Power Family of Companies
J
ohn Costello started out in business as a newsboy. Later he worked as an auto mechanic. Then, he started building a family business that employs more than 500 people in six companies with 11 facilities located in eight states. “In Glasgow Village, I stood on the corner and sold newspapers on Saturday nights when I was a kid,” John Costello says. “Later, my father (Tom Costello) was in the car business at Costello-Kunze Ford in North County. When it was at its height in the 60s and 70s, I was a mechanic.” As his father was leaving the auto business, John Costello was offered the opportunity to represent the Ford industrial engine line. Clayton Costello, one of John’s three sons now involved in the business, says, “Our father was graduating from college and
wanted to run with it. He sold Ford engines all over Missouri and southern Illinois. He started working out of the back of a pickup truck and grew it from there by building our own CK-branded products and getting distribution rights from various other engine manufacturers.” After Clayton and brothers J.J. and Clark graduated from college, “The three of us got into the business and wanted to take it to the next level,” Clayton Costello says. John Costello is chairman and chief executive officer of the companies. His sons serve as principals, with J.J. focusing on business development, Clayton on corporate strategy and operations, and Clark on standby power systems. John Costello founded the CK Power company as a branch of his
18 • SSM Health Cardinal Glennon Children’s Foundation
Ford dealership in 1976. In 1980, he became affiliated with Western Diesel Services, which was founded in St. Louis in 1929. He acquired Western Diesel in 2000 and continued as CK John Costello Power Products and CK Parts and Service. From 2017 through 2021, the CK Companies acquired Consolidated Machine and Welding in Hannibal, MO, a contract vendor offering full-service metal fabrication; Hayes Manufacturing in Fife Lake, MI, a builder of powertrain accessories; Rocky Mountain Power Train of Commerce City, CO, a large-engine parts and service provider; and Terramac, which builds rubber-
tracked construction equipment. It is based in Chicago, IL, and assembles vehicles in North St. Louis. The CK Power companies also provide parts and service in Colorado, Illinois, Kansas, Nebraska, Oklahoma and Texas. “Diversification always has been our goal,” Clayton Costello says. The industrial engine category covers a lot of ground, literally and figuratively. “Industrial engines range from five to 1,000 horsepower and fit any application from a woodchipper, a fracking truck in Texas, small generator sets on the telecom trucks that put fiber optic in your neighborhood to street sweepers,” Clayton Costello says.
Brothers J.J., Clayton and Clark Costello
care of families who cannot afford to pay. They treat everyone as God’s children,” John Costello says. “I have gotten my boys involved and am
“ Our father really took a liking to what the Hospital was doing for the area...” The companies’ products are sold to many industries, including agriculture, data centers, health care, marine, oil and gas and utilities. “Any type of industrial equipment for companies that buy five units to companies that buy thousands of units,” Clayton Costello says. “We also have military applications. It is a very engineering-value-heavy business.” Many hospitals in the St. Louis area are equipped with CK Power electrical generators. “We sell prime and standby power units with diesel or gaseous engines all over the United States,” Clayton Costello says. SSM Health Cardinal Glennon Children’s Hospital has enjoyed additional benefits from the CK family. John Costello has served on the Hospital’s Board of Governors for six years. He was asked to join the board by long-time friends, Thomas E. Hilton and James G. Koman. “They talked about the Mission, and I saw the spirituality of the staff and the way they take
trying to pass the baton to them so they are connected civically and spiritually to the community and doing for others — the way God would want us to care for others.” “Our father really took a liking to what the Hospital was doing for the area,” Clayton Costello says. “My daughter has been able to get help from Cardinal Glennon.” “I went down there as a kid for minor surgeries,” Clark Costello continues. “I think we all have been down there for various things. We
have been very happy with the Hospital. It provides great services and the doctors are engaged. We know many of our employees have used Cardinal Glennon for their children’s needs.” Adds J.J. Costello, “We started being around the Cardinal Glennon community and having personal experiences with our own families. We saw the great things it does for our community and the greater Midwest.” “We have been a corporate sponsor of Glennon events. Our families have given volunteer time as well,” Clayton Costello says. “We love to support the community in any way that we can. We appreciate everything they are doing. It is a very fascinating and giving organization.”
Standby electrical generators await shipment from a CK Power assembly plant
glennon.org 2023 – 2024 • 19
A Rare Connection
Written by Stephanie Stemmler
CARDINAL GLENNON ORTHOPEDIST D E D I C AT E S P R A C T I C E T O R A R E D I S E A S E S
Katie (center) with her parents, Nicole and Kurt Gossett
K
atie Gossett is thrilled to spend a warm weekend in August with her family at Mark Twain Lake Jellystone Park in Monroe City, MO. The 13 year old from Chebanse, IL, is in between two surgeries on her legs to treat a condition
called arthrogryposis. She comes to SSM Health Cardinal Glennon Children’s Hospital regularly to see one of the only physicians in the country that treats her rare disease.
“We go camping two to three times a year,” says Katie’s father, Kurt Gossett. “We go to the beach, and we like camping in Jellystone parks in several places. Katie loves the time outdoors and we do, too.” The fact that both of Katie’s legs are in casts doesn’t stop her from fishing or participating in fun family activities. “I think the casts are kind of cool, and I’ve had leg
braces before, too,” Katie says. “When I was in school, everyone wanted to sign the casts!” Arthrogryposis multiplex congenita (AMC), or simply arthrogryposis, is diagnosed in only one out of every 3,000 births. The condition results in babies being born with multiple stiff and contracted joints and tight muscles. While physicians currently have identified more than 400 types of AMC, all are considered rare. The common denominator for the condition is that an unborn baby does not move properly during development in pregnancy. Joints and tissues become rigid and contracted, which can result in clubbed feet; stiff, flexed knees, fingers, elbows or wrists; and spine curvatures. AMC also can cause problems in hip joint rotation. Beyond orthopedic problems, children may have breathing or other issues that need to be addressed. Treatment requires a comprehensive, skilled approach to manage the condition long-term after birth. “We didn’t know about the condition until I had an ultrasound during my pregnancy at about five or six months,” recounts Nicole Gossett. “They told us Katie had club feet and another condition called a two-vessel cord.” Occurring in less than two percent of all births, a two-vessel cord occurs when the umbilical cord has only two blood vessels Katie is geared up for a fun time of fishing at Mark Twain Lake Jellystone Park
glennon.org 2023 – 2024 • 21
A Rare Connection Cardinal Glennon Orthopedist Dedicates Practice to Rare Diseases instead of three. Normally a vein brings nutrients and oxygen directly to the baby from the mother, and two arteries move waste products from the baby back through the umbilical cord. In Katie’s case, she had only one artery. Nicole Gossett underwent a Cesarean section, and Katie was transported after birth to a hospital in Chicago. After waiting two weeks for the results from a genetic test, the family learned of the AMC diagnosis. “We didn’t know anything about it; had never heard of it,” notes Kurt Gossett. “We were given a printout about the condition. Katie had to have a feeding tube and splints on her feet and on her wrists to try and treat the contractions.” The family began searching for someone who was experienced at caring for children with AMC. They turned to an internationally recognized organization that they found online — Arthrogryposis Multiplex Congenita Support, Inc. (AMCSI). That connection led them to a physician in Philadelphia, Harold van Bosse, MD, a boardcertified pediatric orthopedist. Dr. van Bosse is recognized worldwide for treating children with limb deformities, Harold van Bosse, MD including children with two rare diseases, AMC and Prader-Willi syndrome, a condition that results in low bone mass density, decreased muscle tone, and spine, hip and feet problems. “I began specializing in AMC in 1998 when I was at the New York University Hospital for Joint Diseases,” says Dr. van Bosse. “We started with a monthly clinic and saw a few patients in the first year. By word of mouth, awareness of the clinic grew, and patients started
Right: Harold van Bosse, MD, with Katie prior to surgery Right, below: Dr. van Bosse presenting a talk about the latest care and treatment options for arthrogryposis at a national conference
coming from across the United States and then from around the world.” Dr. van Bosse moved from New York to Philadelphia and then, in December 2022, to SSM Health Cardinal Glennon. Soon after he opened a specialty clinic devoted to AMC and Prader-Willi Syndrome in St. Louis, patients from throughout the region and from other states began calling. Like Katie, they followed Dr. van Bosse because of his expertise. Already under his care are patients from Brazil, the Netherlands and Singapore. Earlier this year, he received a patient inquiry from New Zealand. “I’ve been fortunate to see many children with these rare diseases over the years, and you develop ideas of how to take better care of them over time and you can
with AMC. For both AMC and Prader-Willi syndrome, there are more and more non-surgical and surgical options.” Those options include progressive bracing or casting, called the Ponseti method, like
“...I have been fortunate to develop several procedures that improve hip and knee contractures...” advance the entire range of treatment options available,” he says. “Over the past 20 years, I have been fortunate to develop several procedures that improve hip and knee contractures, and I’ve been able to correct various foot deformities that arise in patients
22 • SSM Health Cardinal Glennon Children’s Foundation
Katie is going through. Releasing tight muscles and tendons, as well as realigning bones, requires surgery, as does changing the rotation of a malformed bone or joint. Dr. van Bosse performs these procedures on the legs, hips, knees and spine.
Like others diagnosed with AMC, Katie has had multiple surgeries. She has been a patient of Dr. van Bosse’s since she was 6 months old. Her father marvels at her strength as he lists the procedures his daughter has gone through so far. “We would commute to Philly when Dr. van Bosse was there, first for serial casting on the legs and then to get splints for Katie’s wrist,” Kurt Gossett says. “There were other leg braces, minor surgeries on her feet and then later, surgeries on the growth plates in her knees, her Achilles tendon and her hips. At Cardinal Glennon, we have had three more surgeries just this year.” Nicole Gossett adds, “We will go wherever Dr. van Bosse is, because not only is he one of the only doctors who can care for Katie long-term, but also because he is so kind and so compassionate.” Kurt Gossett nods and becomes emotional as he talks about the “man behind the white coat.” “A couple of weeks ago, I was out of town, and Katie needed a prescription. I couldn’t pull that prescription up on my phone, so I texted the doctor directly since he gave us his number.” He pauses as tears began welling up in his eyes. “He took time out of attending a national conference to get on his own computer and send me the prescription again so that I could have it in time for Katie’s appointment. I mean, it was 8 o’clock at night, and he was there for us. Who does that? He does, and he does it all the time. I can’t say enough good things about how he cares for his patients and their families.” Those feelings are reflected in multiple letters and emails from patients. “The Best Doctor in the World,” says one family from Puerto Rico. “We moved from Brazil with a
Katie, surrounded by her parents Nicole and Kurt Gossett and three siblings (Left to Right), Olivia, Gabby and John Paul
lot of hope and trust, just to be close to him,” says another. Dr. van Bosse is heavily active in national organizations focused on the two rare diseases he treats. This past summer, he made several presentations to physicians attending conferences and to families who traveled to listen and
graduating from high school and college, and many are mobile and active. It can be so emotional when I see them at conferences, and they come up and give me huge hugs. It really makes this worthwhile to keep pushing for better ways to treat the complexities of these conditions.”
“I can’t say enough good things about how he cares for his patients and their families.” learn about the latest treatments available. While there are a handful of specialists who treat AMC, Dr. van Bosse is the only pediatric orthopedist specializing in PraderWilli Syndrome in the United States. “My patients are lifelong patients, and I do form strong bonds with many of them,” says Dr. van Bosse. “Kids are now
“I think he’s a pretty good guy,” smiles Katie, who loves video games in addition to camping and swimming. “Yeah, he’s nice and he’s good!” “If you have 25,000 questions, he will never rush you,” says Nicole Gossett. “He explains everything and makes us all feel at ease. He’s a rare, special kind of doctor.”
glennon.org 2023 – 2024 • 23
Mikey Scott has seen and experienced many things during his first 2 years
The Perils of HLH cover feature
Cliffhanger After Cliffhanger, a Young Patient Defeats a Rare Disease
Mikey Scott’s life unfolded like an old movie serial. Every Saturday, the hero overcomes danger only to encounter a new predicament as the episode ends. As the credits roll, future scenes flash across the screen: a rare disease, global bone marrow search, international rescue flight, worst winter storm in a decade, race to the emergency department, resuscitation, babbling and smiling. Written by Rick Stoff
24 • SSM Health Cardinal Glennon Children’s Foundation
T
he perils of Mikey, now 2, began with a difficult pregnancy. “I was hospitalized for a long time. At 26 weeks gestation, they did an ultrasound and noticed that his bowels were dilated,” says Mikey’s mother, Gina Scott. “Every time I went, they found something else. His liver was enlarged. He had ascites (excess abdominal fluid), and then edema on his scalp. They couldn’t figure out what was wrong. They ordered every test under the sun.” Gina Scott was warned that her son could be born with many challenges. “I thought, ‘As long as he is alive, we will get through it.’” Mikey arrived prematurely. Dad, Michael Scott, drove quickly to the high-risk pregnancy center at SSM Health St. Mary’s Hospital. “At 4:30 in the morning, we made it from Fenton to St. Mary’s in under 15 minutes,” Gina Scott says. Mikey weighed 4 pounds, 15 ounces and had jaundice and trouble breathing. “His abdomen was so large. He had an adult-sized liver,” mom says. After 12 days at St. Mary’s, Mikey’s doctors transferred him to a higher level of neonatal intensive care. Gina Scott had been hospitalized with meningitis at SSM Health Cardinal Glennon Children’s Hospital when she was a child and later spent nine years there as a staff nurse. Now, she was going back again. “We ended up with Dr. Hillman, by the grace of God,
who had studied in Cincinnati,” she says. Noah Hillman, MD, is a SLUCare neonatologist in The Dana Brown Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) and professor of pediatrics at Saint Louis University School of Medicine. “Mikey came in horribly sick. We didn’t have an explanation. We got him through one really sick period, but he got very sick Noah Hillman, MD, and Tessia Childs, MSN, APRN, NNP-PC, review again. The normal the chemotherapy guide prepared for the neonatal unit nursing staff tests came back negative,” Dr. Hillman says. born with this disease don’t Tests for uncommon diseases have a gene that shuts off also were negative. “I was thinking, inflammation after an infection. what if this is HLH?” says Dr. Hillman. Once something triggers it, it “It is terribly rare. I only knew about continues,” Dr. Hillman explains.
“Children born with this disease don’t have a gene that shuts off inflammation after an infection. Once something triggers it, it continues...” it because I trained at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital, which is one of the major centers in the world for HLH.” HLH is hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis, a severe inflammatory syndrome. “Children
Dr. Hillman enlisted Deepika Bhatla, MD, a hematologist/ oncologist in The Costas Center who cares for patients with bloodborne diseases. She also trained at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital, where HLH was first described.
Mikey’s mother took pictures to track his progress through his hospitalization glennon.org 2023 – 2024 • 25
The Perils of HLH Cliffhanger After Cliffhanger, a Young Patient Defeats a Rare Disease In patients afflicted with HLH, histocytes and lymphocytes destroy viruses and bacteria, then continue to attack healthy cells in other tissues and can cause organ failure. Many neonatologists have yet to treat HLH. “Once they have seen it, they don’t forget it, because it can be so devastating,” Dr. Bhatla says. HLH is roughly estimated to affect one in 50,000 children. “When I started my fellowship in 2004, they knew about two genes, maybe three, for HLH,” Dr. Bhatla says. “Now, we can describe many more genes and their functions and test for them.” HLH Support says that seven genetic causes of inherited HLH are identified. The current survival rate after treatment is 30-50%. “Specific incidence is unknown,” according to the group. Mikey had a variety of symptoms that “can mean many things,” Dr. Bhatla says. “HLH is just one disease it could have been.” However, genetic tests showed Mikey did carry HLH genes. Subsequent tests found that both of his parents were carriers of an HLH gene. “My husband researched everything with HLH,” Gina Scott says. “If you try to find people who survived it, you will find…I refused to think about it.”
for them to engraft, making the immune system unable to fight infections. Mikey’s family and caregivers had to decide where to keep Deepika Bhatla, MD him during this time. “Normally we do the transplants in the bone marrow transplant unit where everything is super-sterile,” Dr. Hillman says. “The problem was, he was so sick and so small.” “He was on a ventilator, so there was no way he could come to the transplant unit,” Dr. Bhatla adds. It was decided that Mikey, 4 months old, would be the first patient to undergo chemotherapy and transplant in The Dana Brown NICU at SSM Health Cardinal Glennon. The Hospital maintenance staff joined Mikey’s care team. They modified two NICU patient rooms, cleaned them to transplant-unit specifications and installed HEPA air filters. “We measured the air in the rooms and picked the cleanest one,” Dr. Hillman says. “Mikey lived there for 100 days.”
“The only cure is a bone marrow transplant to try to give him enough normal cells to stop inflammation...” One Option “The only cure is a bone marrow transplant to try to give him enough normal cells to stop inflammation,” Dr. Hillman says. “His parents knew he may not survive the transplant, but they knew he wasn’t going to survive if we didn’t do it,” Dr. Bhatla explains. A bone marrow transplant involves eliminating bloodmaking cells with chemotherapy, transfusing donor cells and waiting
Mikey’s hospital door on transplant day
26 • SSM Health Cardinal Glennon Children’s Foundation
The best transplant match for Mikey was found through the World Marrow Donor Association registry. The donor, a 20-something woman in Switzerland, confirmed her willingness to undergo the surgical marrow donation procedure. Medical teams on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean synchronized calendars so the donated marrow would arrive at the peak of Mikey’s conditioning. Dr. Bhatla gave the NICU nurses an intensive course in transplantation and the safe handling of the toxic chemotherapy drugs. “Doing this in the NICU was the best scenario because we knew Mikey and had developed relationships with his family,” said Tessia Childs, MSN, APRN, NNPPC, a neonatal nurse practitioner. “There was a lot of education. Dr. Bhatla lectured and prepared a binder on the medications and a log of his treatments.” Now, the Weather The bone marrow drawn in Switzerland needed to reach St. Louis within 72 hours to remain viable. As a courier and the cells flew to Atlanta en route to St. Louis, the eastern United States was struck by the heaviest winter storm in a decade. On February 2, 2022, airlines cancelled 2,000 flights across the country, including 300 at St. Louis Lambert International Airport. Businesses and schools closed. MetroLink suspended rail service. A transport team waiting for the courier at the airport found
Gina, Mikey and Mike Scott are enjoying family life at home after Mikey’s hospital stays
donor and 80-percent Mikey,” Dr. Hillman says. “He has done quite well. He just needs enough donor cells to stop the attacks.” During his recovery, Mikey encountered additional complications. “He got past all of them, and we sent him home,” Dr. Bhatla says. Mikey all smiles
that only one flight had been cleared to arrive that afternoon. “It must have gotten clearance from the FAA, because those cells were on there,” Dr. Hillman says. The transport ambulance traversed icy roads to reach the Hospital. The donor cells were processed and transfused that evening. The marrow cells engrafted for a time then began to be rejected. Some that remained from the original donation were transfused. The donor was asked to send more. Eventually, Mikey’s body settled into a combination of his cells and donor cells. “He’s about 20-percent
Home…and Back Mikey continued to recover under sterile conditions at home and received medications to boost his donated marrow. Then, yet another peril arose. One night “he was not acting right. I thought I would bring him to the emergency room,” Gina Scott recounts. As his father drove speedily to the Hospital, Mikey’s breaths rattled. Reaching The Dan Dierdorf Emergency and Trauma Center, Gina Scott rushed her son into the building. Moments later, he was in cardiopulmonary arrest. After Mikey was resuscitated and intubated, doctors determined that he had suffered an upper airway obstruction. He was
admitted for a few days, this time in the pediatric intensive care unit. “They took him to surgery and extubated him,” Gina Scott says. “He came off oxygen quickly. Then, he started babbling and smiling.” “That is where we are now. He is extremely active. He is all boy,” says Gina Scott as Mikey scoots around the house in his wheeled walker. “And he shouldn’t have been born — he is the only known survivor of fetal HLH.” However, she continues, “he is still not out of the woods. He needs to keep a certain amount of donor cells to keep the HLH in remission.” Mikey is one of the youngest patients to undergo a bone marrow transplant successfully, Dr. Hillman believes. “I would credit the entire NICU team,” Dr. Bhatla says. “If they saw him now, they would be quite surprised. They did an awesome job.” “Everyone who took care of Mikey in the NICU learned a lot,” Childs says. “His chances were quite slim. It’s satisfying to know that we came together, worked hard and overcame this for Mikey and his family.”
glennon.org 2023 – 2024 • 27
Ugonna Nwankwo, MD, examines Kari Bergmann, 36, of O’Fallon, IL; She was born with several complex heart defects and has been a patient at the Hospital for most of her life
Written by Rick Stoff
ACHP
Adult Congenital Heart Program
SERVES GROWNUPS BORN WITH HEART DEFECTS 28 • SSM Health Cardinal Glennon Children’s Foundation
“I’ve been going to Glennon for 32 years.”
S
tacey Goltermann arrives, all by herself, to register at SSM Health Cardinal Glennon Children’s Hospital for an imaging study before her annual heart checkup. She is conspicuous among the children and teens entering the lobby. Goltermann, a 6-foot-tall, 52-year-old mother, underwent surgery for a heart defect when she was 5 years old. She and more than 500 other adults are enrolled in the SLUCare/SSM Health Cardinal Glennon Adult Congenital Heart Disease (ACHD) Program. Advances in congenital heart defect (CHD) treatments have improved outcomes so that more adults require monitoring and care for diseases once limited to childhood. The ACHD clinic at SSM Health Cardinal Glennon is the only program in the central Midwest staffed by physicians boardcertified in both pediatric cardiology and ACHD.
Adults born with heart defects present issues that are not covered in training for adult cardiology. Adults born with heart defects present issues that are not covered in training for adult cardiology. Surgically repaired hearts may exacerbate complications of typical
Stacey Goltermann
adult diseases. “This is a young field because of the history of heart disease,” says Ugonna Nwankwo, MD, director of ACHD care at SSM Health Cardinal Glennon. “We did not have many surgical interventions that could prolong the lives of our patients until the 1950s and 1960s. Up to the early 2000s, many patients with more complex heart diseases were not being offered surgical management because there was still a high level of morbidity and mortality.” Dr. Nwankwo is board certified in pediatrics, internal medicine, pediatric cardiology and adult congenital heart disease. He is a SLUCare congenital interventional cardiologist and assistant professor
of pediatrics at Saint Louis University School of Medicine. “Due to advances in therapies, children who have severe heart disease are becoming adults and living longer. We have patients with congenital heart defects who live nearly full — if not full — lives,” he adds. According to the Adult Congenital Heart Association (ACHA), there may be three million people living with congenital heart defects in the United States, two million of them adults. Fewer than 10% are receiving ongoing care. “Congenital heart defects are the number one birth defect, occurring in about 1 out of 100 people,” explains ACHA. “A congenital heart defect is a structural abnormality within the heart that develops before birth. Heart defects include holes in the heart; misplaced, malformed and/or missing valves, vessels and heart chambers; or a combination of those. They can be diagnosed prenatally, at birth, later in childhood or even adulthood.” “A congenital heart defect can be inherited or non-inherited, meaning it is a random mutation,” Dr. Nwankwo explains.
Dr. Nwankwo discusses patient test results with the ACHD Program staff during an afternoon clinic
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Adult Congenital Heart Program Serves Grownups Born With Heart Defects About 84,000 adult patients were being followed at the 48 ACHAaccredited adult congenital heart programs in 26 states last year. SSM Health Cardinal Glennon added staff in The Dorothy and Larry Dallas Heart Center this year to meet the requirements for accreditation, which is expected in early 2024. The nearest accredited program is in Peoria, IL. Many clinic enrollees are lifetime SSM Health Cardinal Glennon patients. Others, including Goltermann, began visiting the Hospital because it offers specialized care for people with CHD. “The more complex your CHD is, the more crucial it is that you get your care from an ACHD health care team,” ACHA recommends. “Depending on where you live, that may mean traveling some distance for the best care.” “There was a long period of time when patients with mild to moderate congenital heart diseases were told after surgery, ‘You’re fixed! Bye!’” Dr. Nwankwo says. “We now know that all patients who have had cardiac surgery are at risk for complications later in life. We want to monitor them so we can prevent complications from happening or treat them if they do happen.
“As we age, we are more prone to things like high blood pressure, diabetes and acquired heart disease,” Dr. Nwankwo adds. Acquired heart diseases come later in life to people who were born with normal hearts and affect the heart muscles, valves and blood vessels. Lifetime Care Goltermann underwent surgery while growing up in Philadelphia. She was born with coarctation of the aorta, a narrowing in a portion of the main artery that carries oxygenated blood from the heart to the body’s circulatory system. The coarctation requires heart muscles to work harder and leads to high blood pressure, weak blood flow to
of the heart,” she says. “The surgeon who corrected my heart 47 years ago must have done a fantastic job because I have led a normal life and have not had very many bumps along the way!” Goltermann has been monitored by several adult cardiologists in St. Louis. “I had to find people who understand coarctation of the aorta. When you have a pediatric disease, you are explaining it to everybody from your dentist to your primary care physician.” Goltermann learned of the ACHD program at SSM Health Cardinal Glennon last year. “It is great,” she says. “Dr. Nwankwo has so much more knowledge and experience.”
“We want to monitor them so we can prevent complications from happening or treat them if they do happen.” the lower body, thickened heart muscles and possible heart failure. Goltermann visited Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia for followups until she moved to St. Louis in 1997. “We are worried about what could be going on at the repair site, like an aneurysm, any future narrowing or enlargement of parts
An Evolving Specialty The Dallas Heart Center began caring for a few adults in the 1990s. “An adult cardiologist with an interest in congenital disease or a pediatric cardiologist would care for those patients. With the addition of Dr. Nwankwo three years ago, we now have a boardcertified adult congenital heart disease doctor,” says Anna Quinn, PA-C, physician assistant. As more children became adults, the program offered its own clinics and became a distinct program. It includes a second ACHD specialist, Lisa Alderson, MD, a SLUCare cardiologist and assistant professor at Saint Louis University School of Medicine. The program is undertaking outreach in the region, “so patients know about the specialized care that is needed and that we are here,” Quinn says. “The typical time between visits is one year. We see patients who were followed at other Dr. Nwankwo reviews a patient’s heart examination in the ultrasound reading room of The Dorothy and Larry Dallas Heart Center
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require routine follow-up. They probably won’t need anything as adults. This ranges to patients who have single ventricles — they were born with one working side of the heart. They require much more frequent visits and testing, as they will eventually need a transplant.” The clinic’s patients know they may encounter diseases affecting the heart and other organs. “The incidence of anxiety and depression is a lot higher due to these chronic illnesses. We want to be sure we care for those aspects of their health,” Quinn adds.
Lisa Alderson, MD, (left) discusses a heart defect with Amileth Brooks, RN, MSN, program director of the ACHD program
Nichole Shuh is a lifelong patient of SSM Health Cardinal Glennon
places as kids and patients who haven’t had care in adulthood. There also will be patients who did not know they had a heart defect until they were adults.” Continue To THRIVE The Dallas Heart Center has organized the THRIVE program to
assist patients in transitioning from pediatric care to the ACHD specialty at SSM Health Cardinal Glennon. THRIVE is an acronym for “Transitioning Heart warriors to be Ready, Independent, Vigilant and Empowered.” “We start the transition with patients in the pediatric cardiology department when they are 16. At 18, we ask if they feel like they are ready to transition to the adult program,” Quinn says. “We go over their heart defect, surgeries they have had, surgeries they may need, high-risk behaviors such as alcohol and drugs, insurance and how to order medications. We also want to make sure the parents are ready.” THRIVE patients may visit with genetic counselors, nutrition experts and specialists in other organ systems to plan their care. They have access to a social worker to discuss issues that arise from living with a heart defect. “Congenital heart disease is a spectrum,” Quinn says. “We have patients who had surgery and
“I wouldn’t switch.” “Some of our patients have had their pediatric cardiologist since they were born. It is reassuring for them to continue their adult care in the place that they feel so comfortable,” Quinn says. “I’ve been going to Glennon for 32 years. I know I can trust their advice,” says Nichole Shuh. She was born with tricuspid atresia. “My pulmonary tricuspid valves were not properly developed. I had a Fontan procedure when I was a kid.” The Fontan is a complex surgery that rearranges blood flow in hearts that have one pumping chamber rather than two. It enables blue blood to flow passively to the lungs while the single ventricle pumps red blood to the body. “My health has been pretty good,” says Shuh, who is married and works as a bank loan processor. “I wasn’t able to play sports, but I played outside and rode bikes and did all that normal kid stuff. I was coming back to Glennon once a year, but recently I have had other issues come up, so I have been seen more often. I have been able to live a fairly normal life,” Shuh says. “An adult cardiologist doesn’t understand my heart anatomy. The team at Cardinal Glennon takes good care of me. I wouldn’t switch if I had to. I love Glennon.”
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Pediatric residents Dan Hodge, MD, and Krithika Kumarasan, MD, participate in emergency simulation training at SSM Health Cardinal Glennon Children’s Hospital
Improving the Quality of Care Written by Stephanie Stemmler
The Value of Simulation Training
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t started out as a routine day for Dan Hodge, MD, Krithika Kumarasan, MD, and Jordyn Huston, MD, second-year pediatric residents training at SSM Health Cardinal Glennon Children’s Hospital. Within minutes, however, that all changed. A child who had been admitted to the pediatric intensive care unit (PICU) after several days of vomiting had become unconscious. The nursing team called the young physicians to come and rapidly evaluate the situation. Dr. Hodge stood by the bedside and leaned in to take a close look. “Hey Timmy, wake up!” he says while gently shaking the patient. No response. Within seconds, the child’s heart suddenly stops beating and Timmy is in cardiac arrest. With warning signals beeping loudly from the surrounding medical equipment, the three physicians jump into action to perform CPR while simultaneously trying to determine what caused the emergency. “What’s going on? What do we know?” asks pediatric intensivist Brian Thompson, MD, as he watches the sometimes frenetic activity. “Let’s work the problem.” Dr. Thompson is not watching a true emergency, however. He is facilitating a simulated emergency in SSM Health Cardinal Glennon’s
new Clinical Simulation Lab as part of core training for physicians in Saint Louis University School of Medicine’s pediatric residency program. “These simulations enable medical residents to gain familiarity with all the equipment we have at Glennon and let them learn how to manage both routine procedures and emergencies in a safe learning environment,” says Dr. Thompson. “For example, in these simulated drills, they get hands-on experience in intubating patients, using defibrillators, managing emergency codes and handling needles and IVs.” The Clinical Simulation Lab includes dedicated space for newborn, infant, child and adolescent simulations. It is equipped with advanced technology, including state-of-the-art medical equipment and realistic patient simulators, called manikins. Far different from a retail store
Colleen Claassen, MD
“There is an enormous amount of research and evidence that shows simulation-based education and training improves the overall quality of care,” says Colleen Claassen, MD, Simulation Program director. “It’s one of the most important tools for hospitals to have for training physicians, nurses and other staff on how to respond during an emergency.”
“These simulations enable medical residents to gain familiarity with all the equipment we have at Glennon...” mannequin, medical manikins are like a real patient in weight, breath and movement, and they have veins and airways that can be used in a wide range of simulated medical procedures.
SSM Health Cardinal Glennon, like all hospitals, has offered simulation training for years. Those training sessions were previously held in multiple locations around the Hospital, requiring regular set up and take down of all equipment.
Pediatric intensivist Brian Thompson, MD, sets up an emergency situation with a manikin and then goes over the “patient’s” vital signs with a group of pediatric physicians in training glennon.org 2023 – 2024 • 33
Improving the Quality of Care The Value of Simulation Training Thanks to donations given to SSM Health Cardinal Glennon Children’s Foundation as well as significant funds from the Department of Pediatrics at the School of Medicine, a new dedicated space for the Clinical Simulation Lab opened earlier this year. Beth Hankamer, MSN, BS, RN, simulation clinical educator, is the full-time coordinator for the simulation exercises developed in the lab. “Last year, we had more than 600 participants in the simulation program,” she says. “Now, with the dedicated space and more facilitators, we hope to expand not only the technology used but also the amount and types of simulations that we provide.” Simulations have expanded from pediatric resident training to including medical student simulations as part of the curriculum at Saint Louis University School of Medicine. Training exercises range from incidents occurring at the bedside, in the emergency department and in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) and pediatric intensive care unit (PICU) . Simulations for handling behavioral health situations are offered in a specialized safety room. Last year, global health simulations
were added so that those who plan to participate in global medical outreach can learn how to handle medical procedures with limited supplies. And, because of the coronavirus pandemic, tele-simulation scenarios also were created. “Thanks to our partnership with the School of Medicine and SSM Health, we have other dedicated facilities locally for comprehensive nursing and medical simulations,” says Hankamer. “But having a dedicated simulation lab for training on-site using pediatric manikins and our hospital’s own equipment enhances the training we offer and, ultimately, the care we provide to our young patients here in our own hospital.”
program jump right into a “first night on call” exercise that deals with a rapid response scenario. The simulations become more complex throughout the three-year residency training program. “We know we are practicing when we go into a simulation, but when there is a code on a manikin in the lab and we need to have a rapid response, our own stress levels go up as we go through the steps to assess and then care for the patient,” says Dr. Kumarasan. “Simulations draw out learning points, develop clinical reasoning and integrate theory with practice,” says Dr. Claassen, “Mistakes may be made, and learning can occur without risk to patients. Simply put, hands-on learning in a non-risk
“Simply put, hands-on learning in a non-risk environment facilitates better reflection and retention of the skills needed whenever a real situation occurs.” For those participating in the simulation exercises, there is no denying the adrenaline that arises when handling an emergency. At SSM Health Cardinal Glennon, new physicians in the pediatric residency
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environment facilitates better reflection and retention of the skills needed whenever a real situation occurs.” Dr. Huston agrees. “We practice these exercises to make us more comfortable so that when the time comes to handle emergencies, we do so in a calm, methodical manner,” she says. That happened to all three pediatric residents earlier that day. In the NICU, a young child went into cardiac arrest, requiring immediate CPR, including chest compressions and a tube inserted into the airway. No longer a simulation drill, the rapid response was real, involving a full team of experienced physicians, nurses and technicians, as well as the younger physicians. “The big thing is preparedness,” notes Dr. Hodge. “We’ve all experienced these real rapid response situations Simulation clinical educator Beth Hankamer, MSN, BS, RN, finishes setting up a second simulation while pediatric resident Dr. Huston observes
Under the watchful eye of simulation facilitator Dr. Thompson, Jordyn Huston, MD, Dan Hodge, MD, and Krithika Kumarasan, MD, rapidly start CPR during a clinical simulation of a child in cardiac arrest
since we started our pediatric residency a year ago. And we’ve also participated in other simulations since we got here to learn what to do.” Following every simulation, facilitators review each exercise and response step-by-step, guiding the discussion on how to move through an emergency response. Then, the group is placed in a second simulation with less guidance from the facilitator. Another debrief is held to further hone critical thinking skills and responses. Multiple research studies have shown that simulation participants are, indeed, more comfortable handling patient care because they develop the skills necessary to handle both emergencies and routine medical care. Hankamer and Dr. Claassen now are looking to expand the services and technology in the Clinical Simulation Lab. More
funding would expand the equipment available to include even more advanced manikins. In addition, they want to significantly increase multidisciplinary team simulations, coordinating training of physicians, nurses and technicians together versus running separate simulations for each group. Virtual simulation courses also are in queue for development. This fall, simulation exercises will include advanced medical training for those in pediatric fellowships and residency training. As the wish list grows, a second clinical simulation educator and more trained facilitators will be needed. Over in the Clinical Simulation Lab, “Timmy’s” heartbeat has been restored. A low potassium level has been addressed that may have caused the initial heart problems, and the group has practiced performing CPR at the bedside,
using a defibrillator, intubating a patient and administering intravenous medications. They quietly discuss how to better coordinate as a team while Dr. Thompson offers his own observations on their actions during the emergency exercise. Near the bedside, Hankamer resets the software and gets ready for another training session. Drs. Hodge, Huston and Kumarasan all agree that simulation training is critical for becoming comfortable with using equipment and providing quality patient care in the Hospital. As the number of simulations they complete continues to grow, their comfort level expands. Says Dr. Huston, “You are more likely to jump in because you’ve seen it before and practiced what to do in a simulation. That not only benefits us, but our patients, too.”
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GLENNON GUILD
Sophie, Glennon Kid
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Glennon Card Glennon Card
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Glennon Card: Shop Smart, Give Big!
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ach fall, the Glennon Card program offers the St. Louis community the chance to save BIG at their favorite local businesses while supporting the patients cared for at SSM Health Cardinal Glennon Children’s Hospital. By purchasing a $60 Glennon Card, the buyer receives a 20% discount at more than 340 businesses over a 10-day shopping period in October. Plus 100% of Glennon Card sales are donated back to SSM Health Cardinal Glennon. Established in 2011 by the Glennon Hospital Guild, the Glennon Card program has raised more than $2.3 million to support the patients and families at SSM Health Cardinal Glennon. This year’s Glennon Card featured patient was Sophie Ysursa.
Initially dismissing her arm pain as fatigue, Sophie’s inability to lift her arm during archery and swim team events prompted her mother, Jessica Ysursa, to consult a local orthopedic specialist. X-ray results revealed something serious, and their fears were confirmed when the doctor referred Sophie to an orthopedic oncologist at SSM Health Cardinal Glennon. Sophie’s diagnosis of osteosarcoma, localized to her left arm, led to a nine-month treatment plan that included three months of upfront chemotherapy, surgery to remove the tumors and an additional six months of chemotherapy. Despite multiple challenges, Sophie faced her treatment with strength, supported by her family, friends and the compassionate medical staff.
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Sophie faced her osteosarcoma treatment with strength
Ysursa expresses deep gratitude for the care Sophie received and has become a Glennon Ambassador.
Thanks to the Glennon Guild The funds from this year’s Glennon Card will benefit Hospital programs like Child Life, which advocates for the psychosocial, developmental, emotional and educational needs of all patients and families. Child Life Specialists strive to create a supportive environment while helping empower patients and their families to make decisions affecting their care. Because Child Life services are not covered by insurance, SSM Health Cardinal Glennon relies on the generosity of sponsors and friends to make this program a reality.
Glennon kid Sophie was ambassador for this year’s Glennon Card program
The Glennon Guild Junior Board
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The Glennon Guild is a dynamic and driven auxiliary with more than 200 women committed to the children cared for by SSM Health Cardinal Glennon Children’s Hospital. Their efforts include raising funds through programs, such as the Glennon Card, and events like Deck the Halls of Glennon Homes. Members also volunteer in the Hospital, advancing the welfare of its patients. The Glennon Guild contributed more than 11,144 volunteer hours from May 2022 – May 2023! Since 1957, the Glennon Guild has worked tirelessly
to provide resources to support the greatest needs of Cardinal Glennon Children’s Hospital and the children in its care. This fall launched a brand new chapter for the Glennon Guild: the start of the Glennon Guild Junior Board! Students from 11 Catholic high schools across St. Louis — including 66 Executive Members and 70 Ambassadors — have enthusiastically joined the Glennon Guild’s mission to advocate for the children and families served by Cardinal Glennon Children’s Hospital.
EXECUTIVE BOARD Co-Presidents Laura Baylis Karen Page Vice President Jackie Paletta Recording Secretary Susie Montebello Corresponding Secretary Traci Ragsdale Treasurer Kim Sullivan Assistant and Dues Treasurer Nancy Mooney Historians Jan Donovan Pam Janisch Advisors (Active Past Presidents) Ginny Hartman Julie Holland Brigette McMillin Joanne Noyes Constance Reis Gretchen Schulte Susan Soucy Meg Terry EVENTS AND COMMITTEES Glennon Card Lori Hartman Vicki Mower Glennon Card Shoppes Angela Forte Judy Dude Kim Gorman Deck the Halls of Glennon Homes Tour Carol Mullenix Traci Ragsdale Junior Board Jan Donovan Kim Minana Guild Resource Room Ann Brunngraber Jennifer Krassinger Linda Maloney Monica Meara Gift Tags Nancy Mooney Joanne Noyes Gina Ryan Coat Drive Clare Salmon Erika Wesman Book Drive Mary Scalzo Feminine Hygiene Drive Julie Sharp Hospitality Jane Abele Margaret Spooner Mary Lynn Wilhelm
The 2023 Glennon Guild Junior Board includes students from 11 Catholic high schools across the St. Louis region glennon.org 2023 – 2024 • 37
Liam,
Glennon Kid
GIVE HOPE to a child this Christmas N A beautiful Christmas tree in the Hospital atrium
o child should have to spend the holidays in the Hospital, especially while most kids are joyfully opening presents in their homes on Christmas morning. There are many children in the Hospital who will not be able to experience the joy of opening gifts around their family tree this year. Give the gift of hope and healing to Cardinal Glennon kids this Christmas, because they need you. Your support will ensure that our brave patients can continue to receive the exceptional care they need, regardless of their families’ ability to pay. Your generosity makes healing possible. Thank you.
Liam after receiving his new heart
SCAN TO GIVE
Give at
treeofhope.org
PRESENTED BY:
CHILDREN’S MIRACLE NETWORK UPDATE
Ollie
Easton
Ollie and Easton
2023 CMN Ambassadors
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llie and Easton expend their youthful energy on soccer fields — and gymnastic mats, dance floors and bicycles. Their families view their activities as miracles made possible by their doctors and nurses at SSM Health Cardinal Glennon Children’s Hospital. Ollie Geen, 4, became a patient when persistent belly pain was diagnosed as a cancerous liver tumor. After chemotherapy and surgery, he is now in remission. Easton Specht, 3, was transferred to SSM Health Cardinal Glennon hours after his premature birth. He remained in The Dana Brown Neonatal Intensive Care Unit for 47 days while undergoing successful treatments for gastrointestinal disease and a brain hemorrhage. Ollie and Easton are representing SSM Health Cardinal Glennon as its 2023
Children’s Miracle Network (CMN) Ambassadors. Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals of Greater St. Louis (CMN-STL), one of 170 local network alliances, is a not-for-profit organization that raises funds for SSM Health Cardinal Glennon and St. Louis Children’s Hospital. Since 1988,
at CMN events that raise funds and increase awareness of pediatric hospital services.
Ollie, Easton and their families represent SSM Health Cardinal Glennon at CMN events that raise funds and increase awareness of pediatric hospital services. CMN-STL has raised more than $55 million to assist the hospitals in developing new programs and acquiring the equipment and facilities needed to meet the needs of the region’s children and adolescents. Ollie, Easton and their families represent SSM Health Cardinal Glennon
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Ollie
When Ollie was 2, he had been complaining about belly pain for a couple of weeks when a playground fall left him feeling even worse. It was Sunday morning, so his pediatrician was not available. His parents, Jennifer and Brian
Geen, took him to the SSM Health Cardinal Glennon Pediatric Urgent Care Center in South County, which referred him to Cardinal Glennon Children’s Hospital. An X-ray, CT scan and blood tests led to a diagnosis of hepatoblastoma, a cancerous tumor growing on Ollie’s liver. “It was the biggest nightmare,” says Jennifer Geen. “Complete devastation. Disbelief.” Four rounds of chemotherapy reduced the tumor to half its original size, allowing it and half of his liver to be surgically removed. After two additional rounds of chemotherapy, Ollie was in remission. A year later, “He is doing great!” Jennifer Geen says. “His last checkup was in June, and everything came back clear. He doesn’t need to take any medications. He is participating in soccer and taking swimming lessons. His favorite activity is going to parks. Looking at Ollie, you would just never know the journey he has been through.” Ollie and his parents have represented SSM Health Cardinal Glennon at several CMN events, including its annual Dance Marathon. “The energy is unmatched. It is a lot of fun for him,” Jennifer Geen says. “We are honored to be one of the families chosen to carry Cardinal Glennon’s message forward and share awareness of the programs the
network provides to the hospitals in St. Louis. It has been fun to meet other families and know we are not alone in the awful situations we found ourselves in.” “Brian and I are absolutely grateful we ended up at Cardinal Glennon that day, and thankful beyond measure that they were able to give Ollie the very best chance at a full recovery. It is amazing proof of why we need these hospitals.”
Easton
Easton was born after 32 weeks of gestation. “He was taking a bottle, nursing, had no respiratory support and seemed to be doing well,” says his mother, Kassie Specht. “It was a week of bliss. Little did we know it was the calm before the storm.” Suddenly, Easton’s blood oxygen saturation dropped. He was transferred by an SSM Health Cardinal Glennon transport team ambulance and admitted to the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU). He was diagnosed with necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC), an intestinal inflammation that is common in premature babies. Within 48 hours of his diagnosis, Easton developed a blood infection. His doctors also found a brain hemorrhage. Easton’s NICU journey would last nearly seven weeks. “Those 47 days were filled with our hardest moments and most joyous moments as a new family,” Specht says. After 21 days of intensive care, Easton’s NEC resolved, but his brain continued to bleed and doctors made another diagnosis: hydrocephalus. If fluid continued to accumulate in Easton’s head, the pressure would enlarge his skull and injure his brain. Easton underwent surgery to place a shunt that drains excess fluid from his head to his abdominal cavity.
Kassie and Tyler Specht with their son, Easton
More than a year later, “Easton is doing great,” Specht says. “He’s wild and crazy. He is doing gymnastics and soccer. He loves singing and dancing. He just got his first bike. The neighborhood boys were all riding this summer. He is the youngest. They are middle school boys who let him ride with them for a while before they go gallivanting off. It is so cute.” Easton’s future prospects are unlimited. “Developmentally he is right on track,” Specht says. “We just got his shots and checkup, and everything looks great, so he doesn’t have to go back for another year. You would never know what his crazy journey has been.” The Specht family is honored to serve as CMN Ambassadors. “Everybody in the family calls him the little miracle, so being a Miracle Network kid is fitting. At the danceathon, he schmoozed with all the college kids. It was cool to see the community come together. Anytime we can support Glennon and brag about how awesome they are, we’ll be there. Glennon is home.”
Jennifer Geen with her son, Ollie
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2023 PROGRAMS/EVENTS
Glennon LIVE April 29, 2023 | Benefiting The Children’s Fund
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lennon LIVE was an extraordinary night that left attendees deeply grateful and inspired, all while benefiting SSM Health Cardinal Glennon Children’s Hospital. The evening commenced with an exclusive VIP preparty, where attendees mingled with fellow advocates and showed their support. As the main event unfolded, the legendary Tim McGraw took center stage, captivating the audience with his magnetic stage presence — including a special moment for one SSM Health Cardinal Glennon patient (photo 9). The night continued to shine with an exuberant After Party, where joyous celebrations and connections flourished. Amidst the performances and festivities, the event’s true magic emerged — a community coming together to support and celebrate the Hospital. SCAN HERE
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1 Edward Jones Guests 2 Brigette and Tom McMillin 3 Bob and Marcia Leonard 4 Danis Family Guests 5 Laura Kaiser, Bob Costas and Sandy Koller 6 Emily and Jeremy Fotheringham, Dr. Andy White and Dr. Hillary Babcock 7 Tim McGraw 8 Lily Ren, Jade Regelean, Keith Williamson and Stephanie Williams 9 Glennon kid, Lilly Yank, with Tim McGraw
PRESENTED BY:
42 • SSM Health Cardinal Glennon Children’s Foundation
Jim and Jennifer Koman
The Neidorff Family
2023 PROGRAMS/EVENTS
Scoops of Fun May 13, 2023 | Benefiting FootprintsSM Palliative Care
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The Development Board of SSM Health Cardinal Glennon Children’s Foundation was pleased to host the Scoops of Fun ice cream and sweet treat social. More than 500 attendees enjoyed face painting, balloon artists and all the fun offered by The Magic House, St. Louis Children’s Museum. There were 13 sweet treat vendors, including a “Create Your Own Sundae” station, which was very popular with the kids. Families also enjoyed surprise visits from Fredbird, Louie and the Chick-fil-A Cow! Prairie Farms and RubinBrown were once again the presenting sponsors. Support from Scoops of Fun allows our FootprintsSM Palliative Care team to continue helping patient families. Last year, the team provided comfort, advocacy and support to 300 children with complex conditions and their families.
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glennon.org 2023 – 2024 • 43
2023 PROGRAMS/EVENTS
Homers for Health Patient Jimmy completes second year as co-chair!
2023 Homers for Health co-chairs Glennon kid, Jimmy, and Matt Holliday
SCAN HERE
PLEDGE FOR PATIENTS homersforhealth.org
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ow in its 12th year, Homers for Health has become one of our most anticipated fundraising programs of the year! The funds raised through this oneof-a-kind program have supported numerous improvements to SSM Health Cardinal Glennon Children’s Hospital programs and services, from updated clinical
spaces to the latest surgical technology and everything in between! Our lifetime co-chair, Hall-of-Famer Matt Holliday, was joined again by Glennon kid, Jimmy Williams, for his second year as patient co-chair to encourage community members to “Pledge for Patients” and spread the word
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about how every dollar helps kids like him. Now a happy and healthy teenager, Jimmy received a second chance at life through a heart transplant in December 2019.
PRESENTED BY:
2023 PROGRAMS/EVENTS
Holliday’s Heroes Aug. 28, 2023 | Benefiting The Children’s Fund
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his year’s Holliday’s Heroes celebration was a whole new ballgame — literally! Instead of the usual gathering at a special event venue, Leslee and Matt Holliday decided they wanted to host our Holliday’s Heroes supporters at a place they are VERY familiar with — Busch Stadium! It was a perfect night for baseball and SSM Health Cardinal Glennon Children’s Hospital was the focus of the fans for the entire evening. From patient co-chair Jimmy throwing out the first pitch to Matt, to the cameras finding Matt and our donors in the seats and having them wave to the crowd, it was an opportunity for the Hospital to shine. We remain so grateful to Leslee and Matt Holliday for their continued dedication to our patients, and we know they are equally grateful for everyone that supports the Homers for Health program.
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1 Dierbergs friends Grant McCoy, Christina Martin and Gina Pace, Glennon kid Jimmy Williams, Heartland Coca-Cola friends Shawn Anderson and Tanner Anderson, and Matt and Leslee Holliday 2 Cecil Blansett, Matt Holliday and Cynthia Blansett 3 Leslee and Matt Holliday, Jimmy Williams and Shana Williams 4 James Korbelik, Matt Holliday and Wylaine Korbelik 5 Jim Whalen, Matt Holliday and Dana Whalen 6 Sue Weilbacher, Matt Holliday and Pam LeClair 7 Matt Holliday, Maggie Bohannan, Karyn Bohannan and Leslee Holliday 8 Maggie Thornton, Maureen Pegg, Matt Holliday, Nicci Lowrey and Meghan Freeman
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2023 PROGRAMS/EVENTS
Glennon Sunday Where Faith and Healing Unite
“ God gave me Walker to bring light to others… I want to be helpful because other people helped me.”
Walker,
Glennon Kid
— Gretchen Lydick, Walker’s mother
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arly in Gretchen Lydick’s third pregnancy, an ultrasound revealed that her son had a congenital heart defect, and she was referred to the SSM Health Cardinal Glennon St. Louis Fetal Care Institute for specialized care. After further testing revealed that her baby also had Down syndrome, Lydick recalls, “The unknown was terrifying. Would his big brothers accept him? Would he even survive?” As a young mom, Lydick wasn’t sure she was equipped to care for him properly, but committed herself to giving him the best life possible. When Walker was born, he was only in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) for two days before
Lydick and her husband got to take him home. “And now that he’s here, he is so perfect beyond anything I ever imagined,” Lydick says. “He is the missing piece to my family’s puzzle.” When Walker went into heart failure just three days before his scheduled heart surgery, he was rushed by ambulance to Cardinal Glennon Children’s Hospital for emergency surgery. “It was the scariest thing I have ever been through in my life,” Lydick says. “But on day five, our little warrior was discharged from the ICU and got to go home.” “I feel like God has called me,” says Lydick. “God gave me Walker to bring light to others…
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I want to be helpful, because other people helped me.” And with the help of SSM Health Cardinal Glennon, Lydick, her husband and her two older sons are looking forward to giving Walker the best possible life and showing others just how much someone living with Down syndrome can do.
Thank you to all the parishes of the St. Louis Archdiocese for your support of Glennon Sunday!
2023 PROGRAMS/EVENTS
Glennon Golf Classic Sept. 8, 2023 | Benefiting Music Therapy
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his year marked the 40th Annual Glennon Golf Classic hosted by Bill and Martha Hawn of Columbia Golf Club. Golfers couldn’t have asked for more beautiful weather for a funfilled day of golf in support of the Music Therapy program at SSM Health Cardinal Glennon Children’s Hospital. Because Music Therapy is not covered by insurance, the Hospital replies on the generosity of our supporters and friends to make this program a reality. Golfers participated in an on-course FUNdraising challenge with the Music Therapy team called “Name That Tune.” Teams who were able to name the artist and song received advantages to help their score. We want to thank everyone who has supported the event over last 40 years and look forward to many more to come.
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1 JewelRide Team 2 Enterprise Bank and Trust Team 3 Brian Behrens, Brian Chinnici and Jim Kane 4 Columbia Golf Club, Inc. Team 5 Fabick Cat Team 6 Midwest BankCentre Team 7 Anders CPAs + Advisors Team and P2 Mission Solutions Team 8 Cardinal Glennon Music Therapists Kimberly Iverson, MM, MT-BC, NICU MT; Carolyn Lemen, MMT, MT-BC and Scott Duell, MMT, MT-BC 9 Saint Louis Automatic Sprinkler Company, Inc. Team 10 Vee-Jay Cement Contracting Company, Inc. Team 11 Fabick Cat Teams
PRESENTED BY: glennon.org 2023 – 2024 • 47
2023 PROGRAMS/EVENTS
Glennon Gallop • VIP Tent Sept. 16, 2023 | Benefiting The Danis Pediatric Center
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n a beautiful September day, supporters of SSM Health Cardinal Glennon Children’s Hospital and polo fans showed up for a thrilling polo match benefiting The Danis Pediatric Center at the 11th annual Glennon Gallop. Handling more than 20,000+ visits annually, The Danis Pediatric Center serves some of our region’s most vulnerable children. Of the many families SCAN HERE who visit the clinic each year, 75% live below the federal poverty level.
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1 Event Co-Chairs Jeff and Anna Tegethoff 2 Julie and Drew Dubray 3 Andrew White, MD, and Kevin Beckmann 4 Chris and Lauren Pronger 5 Jen Grossman, Cap Grossman and Sandy Koller 6 Darron Lowe and Galen Bingham 7 Hossain Marandi, MD, MBA, FACHE, and Tim Danis 8 Spencer Snodsmith, Melissa Snodsmith, Doug and Molly Sansone, Steve Snodsmith and Aaron Sansone
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2023 PROGRAMS/EVENTS
Glennon Gallop • Field-Side Party Sept. 16, 2023 | Benefiting The Danis Pediatric Center continued from previous page
Hundreds showed up in their finest Kentucky Derby attire and hosted extravagant tailgates for friends and family to watch the polo match together. In a friendly tailgate competition, guests had the chance to win awards for Best Attire, Best Food, Best Décor, Most Spirit and Best Overall. A patient from Cardinal Glennon Children’s Hospital visited each participant to thank them and serve as tailgate judge. The VIP Experience culminated in a riveting polo match after guests enjoyed boutique shopping, a fast-paced auction, fine wines and a delicious lunch buffet, all while showing off their best White Hot Affair attire. At halftime, all the guests came together on the field for the much-anticipated Divot Stomp and Champagne Toast.
PRESENTED BY:
T. Danis Charitable Trust
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2023 PROGRAMS/EVENTS
Glennon Card Shoppes Oct. 9, 2023 | Benefiting SSM Health Cardinal Glennon
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lennon Card supporters participated in a fun “shopportunity” organized by the Glennon Hospital Guild as more than 30 Glennon Card retailers gathered at the Hilton St. Louis Frontenac to build excitement for the 2023 Glennon Card shopping days. Shoppers enjoyed a 20% discount as businesses honored early use of their Glennon Card during the event. Special thanks to Holland Injury Law and Mary Lynn and Joe Wilhelm for making this event possible.
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2023 PROGRAMS/EVENTS
Dierdorf-Pronger Golf Classic Oct. 9, 2023 Benefiting The Dan Dierdorf Emergency and Trauma Center
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he 39th annual Dierdorf– Pronger Golf Classic was held on a beautiful fall day at Boone Valley Golf Club in Augusta, MO. On the course, golfers had the opportunity to interact with Glennon kid, Jimmy Williams, while supporting the emergency department through an on-course raffle. Afterward, guests enjoyed a lively auction and awards presentation from tournament hosts, NFL Hall-of-Famer Dan Dierdorf and NHL Hall-of-Famer Chris Pronger. Players learned how their participation in the tournament allows SSM Health Cardinal Glennon Children’s Hospital to continue treating the more than 66,700 children seen each year, including 1,200 traumas, in The Dan Dierdorf Emergency and Trauma Center.
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1 First Place: John Lee Team 2 Second Place: Grey Eagle Team 3 Chris Pronger and Dan Dierdorf 4 Chris Pronger and Team tee off 5 Bodley Group Team
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2023 PROGRAMS/EVENTS
Sun Run Oct. 15, 2023 | Benefiting The Children’s Fund
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he community got moving in support of SSM Health Cardinal Glennon Children’s Hospital for the 7th annual Sun Run. A record-breaking 84 teams and more than 2,400 participants gathered in Forest Park, running and walking to support a #FutureDeserved for Cardinal Glennon kids. In perfect alignment with that theme, and to honor the exciting news about the future of SSM Health Cardinal Glennon, patient champions were part of opening ceremonies, wearing construction hard hats provided by Grand Marshall sponsor, McCarthy Building Companies. Highlights of the event included a robust Runners’ Village with plenty of kids’ activities (games, a DJ, face painting, balloon artists, costumed characters and more) and excellent food and beverages from local vendors (including Farmtruk, 4 Hands Brewing Co. and Main Squeeze Juice Co., to name a few). There was also a special section of tents in Runners’ Village for top fundraising teams to tailgate with their participants. Proceeds from the Sun Run go to The Children’s Fund. This unrestricted support allows SSM Health Cardinal Glennon to look ahead for what doesn’t exist today and to make strategic investments that will improve health outcomes for all children. The Sun Run was presented by Walgreens. We’d like to say thank you to them and all the sponsors and media partners, The P3Experience and Start2Finish Events, as well as the team captains, staff members, patient families and community friends who made it happen!
SCAN HERE
PRESENTED BY:
52 • SSM Health Cardinal Glennon Children’s Foundation
2023 PROGRAMS/EVENTS
Sun Run Oct. 15, 2023 | Benefiting The Children’s Fund
glennon.org 2023 – 2024 • 53
V V UD E V O T E D X L C X R C S Z Z T N X Z R U Y X E L F B B N S U S F G A C D R Q T F H B C I W E C A J O A Z E E U V N U V R H BWA A O P Y C Z HM E MD E M P I P R G K T F E I L Y B J S U Y I O I DU B X B I P S HQG J U UG L Y T HO R C Q S C F Q K U B B L A P Y G J MR S I DD V I I V V P Q C HH R L C O Y O A S F R P EWV R R G J P D I L QOQ Y F A F C Q Y T I S L C DQ E E Z L G P T Q X V B B J V N SWT P I C Y J M E N R N B DQ A O K R ON S D J C A K E H E I Z P N S C KWEW L G N T QWS T U J E A M J K N A Z B J E T K P X E P E G L E N N O N F A C T O R T N L V L R HW L WZ F H Y H V MO H Z L K C F E J WU S X U V J D WA I G V P VMC H I L D L I F E O A X QD R E A S P J MV H E A L T H R I N S P I R E I U H J P D I E ON P H E L I C O P T E R F V X P S T Z N B P G K R I C A H Y MH R X S I L C H K Z U V A D J E X A VM L F C L UM S R A O P O B OUM Y Z R R D GN Z CWV Z TWY J S Y OQH J E S K I V Y M I V U C L U N H I L C P O L HDQ T L J S H Y U P A O I T L P U E C V Z V C A R D I N A L N U E O P T V D V X D R F R J C P F M I I I H T G Y J R V E R F K P U N S GM S T TWH F S I WZ D X Z O P S I O P O V X E T CMO P C I CWR S U N H L ODQ C R D I U RM E J UWX V C G T B D R K V O N DM S
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n a heartwarming display of community spirit, the annual Light Up Glennon event once again cast a radiant glow on SSM Health Cardinal Glennon Children’s Hospital. The evening brought together hundreds of attendees who gathered to sing carols and show support by shining flashlights toward the Hospital. However, the true magic unfolded when patients, nestled in their rooms, responded with their own flashlights, creating a mesmerizing exchange of light and connection. This touching interaction interaction illuminated the Hospital’s windows and also brightened the hearts of all involved. Through this event, Light Up Glennon continues to spread hope and remind us all of the strength in coming together for a greater cause.
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Every December | Benefiting The Children’s Fund
Light Up Glennon 2023 PROGRAMS/EVENTS
Personalized care, innovation and recognition. At SSM Health Cardinal Glennon Children’s Hospital, we’re inspired daily to innovate, personalize care and push the boundaries of pediatric medicine. Offering more than 60 medical and surgical specialties, SSM Health Cardinal Glennon provides hope to thousands of children with complex medical conditions throughout Missouri, Illinois and beyond. We’re also proud to offer five pediatric specialties nationally ranked by U.S. News & World Report: Cancer, Cardiology, Gastroenterology and GI Surgery, Neonatology, and Nephrology. Together, we partner with you and your child to provide the most advanced health care solutions to promote health, healing and well-being.
cardinalglennon.com
©2023 SSM Health. All rights reserved. CGC-STL-16-213976 6/23
ASK THE EXPERTS
Dr. Cahalin examines Chesney Clark, 16, of Salem, IL, who was referred to the concussion clinic after tumbling from her horse Monte
Ask the Experts: What To Know
About Headaches and Concussions in Children and Teens
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James Cahalin, MD, a pediatric emergency medicine physician at SSM Health Cardinal Glennon Children’s Hospital
bout 62 percent of children and adolescents experience headaches each year while up to 9.1 percent of them suffer from migraines, reports a metaanalysis of published studies. “Primary headaches, including migraines, are common neurological disorders that represent one of the most prevalent and disabling, although under-diagnosed and under-treated, forms of pain in childhood and adolescence,” says the report published in the Journal of Headache and Pain in January 2023. “Headaches cause a substantial impact on quality of life: limiting social activities, physical
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activity and school absenteeism, weaker learning outcomes, a higher risk of dropping out of school and a negative effect on parent’s careers.” By the age of 17, 6.8 percent of young people have had symptoms of a concussion or brain injury, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. To help parents and caregivers understand headaches and concussions, we talked with James Cahalin, MD, a pediatric emergency medicine physician at SSM Health Cardinal Glennon Children’s Hospital and concussion expert for its pediatric neurology team.
Q: Can headaches be symptoms of more serious issues? A: If you have a headache immediately when you wake up in the morning and also [if you] vomit. Those headaches can be consistent with a tumor, and so can balance problems, personality changes, double vision, a poor gait and weight loss. Also, 96 percent of patients who have a concussion will have a headache as a component. Q: What is a concussion? Glennon kid, Chesney Clark
Q: What typically causes headaches? A: We often see stress or tension headaches. Headaches have increased with the advent of social media. Usually, they are more common in the 12-to-18 age group than in younger children, and they are more common in girls. About one of 11 children will have migraines, a neurological disease with different symptoms. Q: How are headaches best treated? A: For non-migraine headaches, Tylenol and ibuprofen are the standbys. If children get a lot of stress headaches, we might prescribe Aleve or naproxen — those only need to be used once or twice a day. We also make lifestyle changes. We want them to increase the amount of water they drink. For teenagers that’s ½ a gallon to ¾ of a gallon a day, younger children less than that. We want them to eat three meals a day. One of the biggies we struggle with, especially in teenagers, is getting enough sleep. Children are often up very late at night on their computers and social media. For migraine headaches, a newer treatment is riboflavin — a natural vitamin, Vitamin B2 — in a dose of 400 mg once a day. It takes six to eight weeks to take effect.
A: The simplest definition is a mild traumatic brain injury — a transient, temporary alteration in mental status from the normal functioning state, usually because of a physical blow to the head but sometimes from the rotational acceleration or deceleration of the head. You do not need to be knocked out to have a concussion. The majority of children I see did not lose consciousness. The literature talks about six sub-types of concussions. The most common is headache or migraine. You also can have issues with balance, anxiety/mood, cognition, vision or neck trauma. Patients can have one type to all six. Q: How does a concussion affect the brain? A: We have billions of neurons in the brain. The injury process starts at the cellular level and is passed to each cell in the brain in what we call a neuro-metabolic cascade. Potassium leaves the cell and calcium enters it. That disrupts the cell body, where the cell’s nucleus is located, and disrupts the axons, or the messenger system, which then affects the blood flow into the brain. Q: How do most pediatric patients incur concussions? A: Concussions are more common in adolescents because they are bigger and playing sports. In
boys, the most common sport is American football followed by soccer. For girls, it is soccer followed by basketball. I have seen concussions in about every sport. Severe concussions are more likely to result from auto accidents. Q: How should a child with concussion symptoms be treated? A: It can take one to two weeks, sometimes three weeks in adolescents, for blood flow and energy production to become normalized in the brain cell. The current teaching is to get physical and cognitive rest for one to two days. Physical rest means not doing any exercising or sports. I allow patients to watch TV from 15 to 20 feet away, so your eyes don’t have to adjust as much. I suggest they limit their electronics time to 10 or 15 minutes. If that gives them a headache, they shouldn’t do it at all. If they are doing better, we gradually start them back to school and sports. If they continue to have symptoms for a couple of weeks, I usually take them into the Concussion Clinic and prescribe an individualized treatment program that often involves our physical therapists, exercise, pain medications and special interventions in school until they get better. Q: Can concussions cause lasting injuries? A: There have never been studies showing long-term effects for a pediatric or adolescent patient sustaining one concussion. Once you have had one concussion, it is easier to have a second and third, and the symptoms often get worse. I have had a number of athletes who have had to retire from high school or college sports because they have had four or five concussions and are symptomatic. glennon.org 2023 – 2024 • 57
GLENNON AMBASSADORS
Glennon kid, Sophie Ysursa, with mom, Jessica
Glennon Ambassadors
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group of incredible humans, as an extension of their connection to SSM Health Cardinal Glennon Children’s Hospital, say “yes” to opportunities that further support the Hospital. These parents, caregivers, patients and staff are our treasured and respected Glennon Ambassadors. Ambassador Relations Manager, Laura Wulf, recruits these special people and says emphatically, “Our staff and patient families are our
very best asset! They are our most authentic storytellers, because they live and know our Hospital from the inside out. If someone wants to know more about the strengths, opportunities or unique characteristics of the Hospital, you should start with the people who work there or who receive care there.” Wulf considers it a privilege to discover these ambassadors in the hallways and enjoys finding an
extended purpose for their journeys. “Families may share their stories, volunteer, speak at an event, serve on a committee…any number of things. We are blessed each and every time we have a family or staff member share their time and talent with us. Their testimonies are the evidence behind the exceptional care and the Glennon Factor we speak so passionately about.”
Meet some Glennon Ambassadors who are making a difference: Jessica Ysursa In August 2022, Jessica Ysura’s daughter, Sophie, was diagnosed with osteosarcoma (bone cancer). Sophie’s nine-month “roadmap” of therapy included three months
of upfront chemotherapy followed by surgery to remove the tumor, followed by an additional six months of chemotherapy. Sophie completed that roadmap of treatment in April 2023 and remains under the
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care of her oncology team at The Costas Center. “As a parent, the exceptional medical care and expertise of the doctors is what you hold on to while they try to cure your child,”
“We volunteered to be Glennon Ambassadors to find the good in Sophie’s diagnosis. From a willingness to share our story came a voice we didn’t know could be so impactful. We supported the 2023 Glennon Card campaign with the Glennon Guild, we have spoken at donor meetings and events, done thank you videos, interviews and more. Each of these has allowed us to share our gratitude, raise awareness and highlight all of the positive aspects of our experience at Cardinal Glennon. Sophie is getting to have some pretty cool experiences and opportunities, and it’s an awesome balance to what she has had to endure with her treatments,” says Ysursa.
Amy Wagner
Top: Jessica Ysursa with daughter, Sophie; Below: X-ray of Sophie’s arm
In 2012, Amy Wagner requested an appointment for her son, Michael, at the Knights of Columbus Developmental Center. “As a toddler, Michael was diagnosed with pervasive developmental delay and was receiving many types of therapies. As hard as Michael was trying and as well as how hard we were working to increase his social-emotional and motor skills,
Ysursa says. “When you have had to reshape your life due to an illness like this, they become part of your family. It would almost feel unnatural NOT to stay connected to the hospital in some way. We update her nurses on all the ‘normal’ things she is getting to do. We visit the inpatient unit to see nurses when we are in clinic. One of Sophie’s favorite night shift nurses, Cassie, actually came to watch her perform in a drama camp! It’s a forever bond you make with the nurses because they are your biggest supporters during the worst time of your life,” Ysursa says.
Michael with mom, Amy Wagner
Glennon kid, Michael, with mom, Amy Wagner, at an event for the Knights of Columbus Developmental Center
things were still not clicking for him,” Wagner says. At the Knights of Columbus Developmental Center, Michael was evaluated by a psychologist and developmental pediatrician. After several months of working with the psychologist, Michael was evaluated by the entire team, and they concluded that in addition to a developmental coordination disorder and ADHD, he has autism. Referrals also were made for Michael to see multiple other specialists. “While Michael did grow out of some behaviors and made huge strides in understanding others’ perspectives, he continued to need support in all these areas. We relied on the expertise and compassion of the staff at Knights of Columbus to help us for years to come,” Wagner says. “We are forever grateful for the listening ears of the doctors and the knowledgeable, patient and tenderhearted therapists and office staff. There is something incredibly unique about Cardinal Glennon. It is just this feeling of knowing that you are in the right place at the right time and your child is receiving the best care possible. I’ve felt and seen this as a mother for over 20 years,” says Wagner.
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GLENNON AMBASSADORS
For the last 10 years, Wagner has assisted with many events and fundraising, marketing and advocacy efforts. She has volunteered as a tour guide for donor immersion events, served on a foundation event planning committee, shared her parent perspective at physician training classes and shared their story and updates for multiple marketing materials, just to name a few. Michael became a Children’s Miracle Network Ambassador in 2015, and the family shared their SSM Health Cardinal Glennon story with college students at Dance Marathon events along with dozens of corporate sponsors and businesses to encourage support of SSM Health Cardinal Glennon. Wagner says passionately, “No one wants to have a pediatric hospital story to tell, but when the story is one of hope because everyone from your child’s care team and all support staff encourage and enlighten you, distract your child effectively and compassionately during a procedure, greet you with a smile at the door, pray with you, pace the halls with you
Missy Sweeney
and more...you know your child has been in the right hospital, and you want to find supporters to keep that Glennon Factor here for many years to come.”
Missy Sweeney When Missy Sweeney’s daughter, Jessica, was diagnosed with cystic fibrosis, their journey began with Cardinal Glennon Children’s Hospital. After 17 years of hospital stays and visits, Jessica’s cystic fibrosis took a toll on her body, and she passed away at the Hospital with the family of caregivers that supported her that whole time. “Many asked how I could go back to Glennon and stay connected after that,” Sweeney says. “My answer to that was, how could I not?! Glennon was quite MIssy Sweeney participating on a parent panel during the Glennon 101 immersion program
simply our home away from home. Our Glennon family took great care of us for 17 years. I wanted to find a way to keep our ties and give back. I had become friends with many of the staff over the years and they helped me maintain that connection with Jessica’s life,” says Sweeney. Sweeney has assisted in several ways, including volunteering as a tour guide for donor immersion events, serving on a foundation event planning committee, participating in parent panels for physician continuing education, sharing their story and updates for multiple marketing materials and serving on multiple hospital committees through her time on the Parent Family Advisory Council, just to name a few. “When your child is sick, you need someone to take ownership and say they will take great care of your child. This is what Cardinal Glennon did for us,” Sweeney says. “Even though Jessica did not survive her illness, I cannot imagine our family having gone through it anywhere else. The hospital and programs went through multiple changes during our 17 years. There were building additions and equipment updates. New programs got started and others expanded. Some of those programs have incredible impact for families like ours, such as Footprints℠ (palliative care) and Child Life. The Child Life therapists were a huge support for Jessica during hospital stays and scary procedures,” says Sweeney. “I know from having lived it — that supporting the hospital through time, talent or treasure can and does help even just one child live a full life.”
Are you a parent or patient family of SSM Health Cardinal Glennon Children’s Hospital who would like to connect, share or make a difference? Contact Ambassador Relations Manager Laura Wulf at 314-678-6635 or laura.wulf@ssmhealth.com or visit GlennonAmbassadors.org.
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The ABCs of Safe Sleep:
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DEVELOPMENT BOARD
Development Board THANKS to the Development Board for their continuous support of the Hospital. President
Ben Albers Past President
Jake Eilermann Membership Chair
Patrick Van Cleave Public Relations Officer
Teresa Braeckel Secretary
Anna McKee Young Friends Leader
Serafina Nicolais Board Members
Liz Barrett Adam Berge Garrett Blair Hannah Castellano Nicole Doeschot Patrick Donlan Jason Emmanuel Tim Fagan Dana Ferrick Trent Gherardini Tommy Hill Macey Kuelker Brian Lamping Chris Leonard Holly Maher John Marino Evan McGinnis Jeff Meyers Adam Morgenthaler Kristyn Newbern Declan O’Neill Nic Perez Luke Pope Kristen Revis Samantha Sagakhaneh Matt Sartori Whitney Shurtleff Joe Stroot Tracey Swabby John Vitale Stephen Wagner Brandon Wappelhorst Ben Warning
Ben Albers
President, Development Board
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n taking over the role of Development Board President coming out of the pandemic, we have faced many challenges in terms of in-person engagement. For several years, the Development Board continued their mission, operating in silos as we did our best to stay in touch with one another. While we saw less of each other, we worked hard to keep the flame of our mission burning. In the first half of 2023, we’ve been focusing on turning that around. Today, I am excited with the Development Board’s engagement and the opportunities for growth going forward. The Development Board is a group of professionals in the St. Louis region who are motivated to make a difference for the children and families who need our support. The board is involved in many SSM Health Cardinal Glennon Children’s Foundation initiatives, taking the lead on Scoops of Fun and Glennon Golf Classic events. In keeping with our focus of engagement, the Development Board has welcomed several new members since the end of 2022 through the first half of 2023. Our goal is to continue building the board with new members over the coming months and providing opportunities to engage existing members to keep the Mission of SSM Health Cardinal Glennon Children’s Hospital at the forefront of their daily lives. Engagement breeds involvement, which can bring new benefactors to the table. Over the coming months, the Development Board will continue to work at creating meaningful partnerships with our community.
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Ben Albers, President, Development Board
These positive relationships will help bring awareness and funds to the Hospital. Thousands of children in our region need help, and the Development Board is committed to doing our part to make sure they have access to stateof-the-art care. If you or someone you know is interested in getting involved with a group of people motivated to make a difference, please send us as a message at info@glennon.org. We would love to have you involved in the many opportunities available to help the Hospital.
Ben Albers, SIOR Senior Managing Director Newmark Zimmer
Once again, you inspired us. Let us celebrate you. Thank you to our annual donors for making a difference every day, every year — full circle. Scan this code to learn about The Glennon Circle and the difference member generosity makes. Committed to what matters. Devoted to more. SSM Health Cardinal Glennon Children’s Foundation 3800 Park Avenue • St. Louis, MO 63110 • 314-577-5605 • glennon.org
SPOTLIGHT
/ GLENNON FRIENDS
Glennon Friends SPOTLIGHT
A Proud Catholic Connection:
Shirley and Franklyn Macaron
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ranklyn Macaron’s lifetime of saving, investing and giving back to others can be traced, in large part, to two significant events while growing up in New Mexico. “The first is when I was a teenager and met a semi-retired dentist from Kankankee, IL, who had moved to Raton, NM, where we lived,” recalls Macaron, now age 84. “He liked me, and whenever I came in for an appointment, we talked about the Chicago Cubs and the stock market. He explained why it was so important to save and invest for my future. I never made it to college, but I got my financial education for free by sitting in that dental chair.” Soon, Macaron bought stock in three companies — Public Service Company of Colorado, Interstate Gas Supply and General Telephone & Electronics (now Verizon). “I still have those first three stocks,” he
Franklyn Macaron with his beloved horses
says. “I invested in things I knew people needed and used, such as transportation and utilities. When I started working for the railroads, I invested in rail companies. Those turned out to be some of my greatest investments.” In those days, the federal government gave land to the railroads to build tracks across the country and some of that land also had oil, gas and timber rights. Over time, the value of those stocks rose dramatically. That’s when the second significant event in Macaron’s life occurred. His older sister, Shirley Macaron, called him about an advertisement she saw in Catholic Digest magazine. “We are both devout Catholics, and I saw an article about charitable gift annuities and how they could benefit various Catholic institutions, such as Cardinal Glennon Children’s Hospital in Missouri,” says Shirley Macaron. “I called Franklyn, and we both realized it was a good investment because neither of us had married or had children, and we wanted to do something good with our money.” Shirley Macaron also has a long history of savvy investing. She earned her degree in education and taught business classes at the local high school. Each year, she she invested some of her salary in U.S. savings bonds and stocks. The Macarons also gave generously to their local church and other Catholic organizations. By setting up charitable annuities, the siblings not only could donate to a wider range of Catholic institutions, they also would receive tax benefits and regular dividends for life,
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supplementing their retirement incomes. To date, they have set up multiple large gift annuities through the SSM Health Cardinal Glennon Children’s Foundation. “God has been good to us,” reflects Shirley Macaron. Shirley Macaron “God is everywhere and in every place. It doesn’t matter to me that I’ve never visited Cardinal Glennon. What matters is that I can give back to Catholic institutions because God has been so good to me.” Today, Shirley and Franklyn Macaron live quiet lives three hours apart in New Mexico. Both attend daily mass, spend days with friends and end their nights praying the Rosary several times. Says Franklyn Macaron, “I still remember the kindness of my dentist, Dr. Hoover, who took me under his wing and taught me about money and investing. I tell everyone, ask questions and learn. Then, as you are blessed in your life with wealth, you should give back to bless others.” Adds Shirley Macaron, “We truly are in a position where, with hard work, we are blessed with what God has given us. It’s our turn now to give back, and we choose to do that through gift annuities to institutions like Cardinal Glennon Children’s Hospital.”
GLENNON FRIENDS / WHY I GIVE SPOTLIGHT KENDRA SCOTT
Why I Give » “For us, it is truly a blessing to be able to support Cardinal Glennon Children’s Hospital. We see the impact the hospital has in the community by caring for their patients and serving families. Our Glennon 101 visit confirmed our feelings, and we were able to witness the care, love and dedication shown to patients by the hospital staff.” Tricia and Tad Davies
“When my daughter was 1 year old, we flew her home in early December from her orphanage in Russia. Once home, although she was safe, warm and eating well, she was waking every 45 minutes and no one was sleeping. For two weeks, we went from doctor to doctor until we found the International Children's Clinic at Cardinal Glennon Hospital, where Dr. Jennifer Ladage spent quality time with us, diagnosed the problem and gave us the medication we needed to help our baby girl!” Tricia Beavin
“Our precious daughter Amber is what inspires us to give back. Amber brought so much joy to every part of our lives. After her passing, we feel blessed by the home we built for her and the community we built around her. We are very thankful for Cardinal Glennon.” Barb and Doug Gaines
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TRIBUTE
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TRIBUTE
Jerry E. Ritter
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ollowing World War II, Peter G. Danis, MD, one of the bestknown pediatricians in the St. Louis area, realized the region’s need for a new pediatric hospital and persuaded the St. Louis Archdiocese to build it. Working with Cardinal Joseph Ritter, Dr. Danis assisted in the fundraising and construction of what was then known as Cardinal Glennon Children’s Hospital, named for the late leader of the Archdiocese. Dr. Danis was the Hospital’s first medical director and chairman of pediatrics. Before passing in 1985, Dr. Danis met the Ritter family, who continued to nurture the Hospital for decades. Jerry E. Ritter, not related to Cardinal Ritter, was appointed to the Hospital’s Board of Governors in 1978 and served until 2018. He passed away on Aug. 21, 2022, at the age of 87. “Our pediatrician was Dr. Danis. I am pretty sure that is how he got involved with Cardinal Glennon,” says Laurie Caro, one of Ritter’s daughters. Ritter was executive vice president and chief financial and administration officer for AnheuserBusch Companies. After retiring from the brewery, he was board chairman for the St. Louis Blues Hockey Club and served on numerous corporate and charitable boards. For four decades, Ritter and his wife, Peggy, were ever-present at SSM Health Cardinal Glennon Children’s Hospital events. Peggy Ritter was the dinner chair of The Bob Costas Benefit for years. Behind the scenes, Jerry Ritter solicited major contributions for building additions that revitalized the Hospital. The Ritters were 2016 recipients of the prestigious Glennon Glennon Award for their years of service.
“My dad was the definition of a ‘servant leader,’” Caro says. “He had a very successful career and felt the need to give back to the community,” adds Ritter's other daughter, Beth Crutsinger. “He found meaning in serving on charitable boards and raising money. He wasn’t afraid to ask people for money!” “He was really good at that,” Caro continues. “He knew a lot of people. Anytime he volunteered on a non-profit board he would end up with the lead development job. He was well-respected and was very successful at fundraising.” Ritter grew up in small towns in Oklahoma and Missouri as his family followed his father’s career in highway construction. He attended the University of Missouri in Columbia, earning a Bachelor of Science degree in business
Jerry E. Ritter
“He was devoted to his grandchildren,” Crutsinger says. “He took time to be with them individually, taking them out to lunch. He tried to guide them and
“Cardinal Glennon was the most meaningful charitable experience of his life.” administration and accounting. He came to the PricewaterhouseCoopers accounting firm in St. Louis and was later offered a job at AnheuserBusch, where he remained for more than 30 years while rising to the top of the executive leadership team. When his daughters came along, the Ritter family connected with Dr. Danis and SSM Health Cardinal Glennon. Despite apparently overwhelming time demands, Ritter maintained a normal family life. “He was amazing at being home by 6 o’clock every night,” Caro recalls. “He would bring home a thick stack of reading material. After he would join us for dinner he would go through this mountain of paperwork while sitting with the family. We never felt like he wasn’t around. He managed to be a dad while also working really hard.”
66 • SSM Health Cardinal Glennon Children’s Foundation
encourage them in whatever they were trying to do.” Ritter’s grandchildren were patients at the Hospital, Caro says. “The people and the care our kids received there were so amazing,” Crutsinger says, "once you have been there with a child, it solidifies your love for the institution.” Caro and Crutsinger have served for years on the Glennon Hospital Guild, the women’s auxiliary, often chairing major fundraising events. Caro and her husband, Joe, serve as co-chairs of the Glennon LIVE event. Why did Jerry Ritter devote so much of his busy life to SSM Health Cardinal Glennon? "Well," Caro says, "he told me before he passed away that Cardinal Glennon was the most meaningful charitable experience of his life.”
GLENNON FRIENDS / SPOTLIGHT
Ways to Give Create a personal legacy that brings lasting hope and joy to a child:
Ben
efic
iary
PARTNER WITH US TODAY:
GIFTS YOU CAN MAKE TODAY:
AFTER YOUR LIFETIME GIVING:
• Charitable Gift Annuities
• Gifts of Cash
• Will or Living Trust beneficiary
• Charitable Lead Trust • Charitable Remainder Trust • Charitable Remainder Annuity Trust • Donor Advised Funds • Volunteer
• Securities now or later • Life Insurance • Real Estate Gifts now or later • Outright Gift of Appreciated Securities or Property now or later
• Life Insurance beneficiary • Retirement Plan Gift beneficiary • Life Estate Agreements — A personal residence, land or farm
• Savings Bonds now or later • Corporate Matching Gift
“ As we raised our children, it was always of great comfort to know that Cardinal Glennon was there if a medical need or an emergency arose. Although we never had to utilize the exceptional care provided at Cardinal Glennon, we give to Cardinal Glennon to make sure that all children are cared for, regardless of their family's ability to pay.” — Rosalyn & Vernon Pursley
For further information, please contact Rose Brower, Director of Planned Giving, at rose.brower@ssmhealth.com or 314-577-5605. SSM Health Cardinal Glennon Children’s Foundation 3800 Park Ave., St. Louis, MO 63110 314-577-5605
glennon.org glennon.org 2023 – 2024 • 67
TRIBUTE
/ GLENNON FRIENDS
TRIBUTE
Judge Arthur F. Miorelli
A
group gathered for lunch at Hodak’s Restaurant on Gravois Avenue in 1987. The six-decades-old St. Louis institution had then been serving its famous fried chicken for only five years. In strolled Judge Arthur F. Miorelli, who had been told the luncheon would recognize a clerk in his Division 25 Magistrate Court. Instead, he was surprised to learn the event had been arranged by St. Louis police officers who regularly appeared before his bench...all to honor him. “The judge sat down and ordered a beer,” noted a reporter in attendance. Then, he was handed a plaque that stated: “We wanted you to know that we appreciated your tenure in Division 25 during 1986. We greatly respect your demeanor and your ability to control your court.” Miorelli’s court handled arraignments and preliminary hearings of criminal cases filed by
Judge Arthur F. Miorelli
everybody else in the courtroom has to wait around until the lawyers are taken care of?” one officer said during the luncheon. “Well, Judge Miorelli checks to see if there are any cops who worked the night shift and were up all night. He takes them first.”
“... Judge Miorelli checks to see if there are any cops who worked the night shift and were up all night. He takes them first.” police and prosecuting attorneys. He decided whether there was enough evidence to forward the case to a trial court. At the time, officers believed that some judges catered to the scheduling needs of defense attorneys and allowed attorneys to treat the officers rudely. In Division 25, however, police officers felt respected as well. “You know how most judges are so courteous to lawyers and
The City Courts were the focus of Miorelli’s life from his appointment in 1963 through 2001, when he reached the mandatory retirement age of 70. He continued to fill in as needed for 12 more years, covering for other judges during vacations and other absences, as “a special appointed judge.” Miorelli died March 1, 2022, at the age of 90.
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“He had no children. All his closest friends were fellow lawyers. His closest friend was the Honorable Ellis Gregory Jr., who served as a circuit court judge in St. Louis County for nearly 30 years. They went to law school together. They all died before him,” says Dennis Mertz, the attorney for Miorelli's estate. “He had one sister, Alma M. Staub, who had one child, who is Judge Miorelli’s surviving nephew, William A. Staub.” Miorelli was a first-generation American. His parents, Arthur and Angeline, immigrated from Sicily and met in Pittsburgh, PA. “When he was a child, the family moved to St. Louis,” Mertz says. After graduating from high school, Miorelli served in the US Army for three years. He remained a member of the US Army Reserves for another decade. Following his active service, he earned his undergraduate and law degrees from Washington University in St. Louis in 1954. He practiced law until his appointment to the State Courts. Miorelli left a sizable portion of his estate to SSM Health Cardinal Glennon Children’s Hospital. Mertz says, "He was raised by parents who were devout Roman Catholics from the old country. He grew up in the church. It was part of his identity. He was not a churchgoer but wanted his wealth to be used to support charitable work of his faith. He wanted to leave his estate to Catholic charities and felt Cardinal Glennon would be a place that would make good use of it. He felt the hospital did a wonderful job.”
GLENNON FRIENDS / SPOTLIGHT SPOTLIGHT
Donut Sale This Friday
O
n a hot summer’s day on July 7, 2023, the Brennan kids opened their donut stand for the second year…bigger and better than ever! In their front yard in Des Peres, MO, siblings Olivia (11), Duke (9) and Megan (6) gathered with friends Parker Sigurdson (10), George Budke (10) and May Hauk (11) to raise money for the children of SSM Health Cardinal Glennon Children's Hospital. Selling donuts, juice, milk, coffee, apple juice and homemade dog treats, they raised $7,500!
a slime station, homemade dog treats and used golf balls collected throughout the year by their Grandpa Jim with the hopes of raising more money and building community. Fundraising for Cardinal Glennon Children's Hospital holds a special place in the heart of the whole Brennan family. Mom, Elizabeth, was a heart patient at the Hospital as a child, then spent several years as a nurse practioner in the neonatal intensive care unit, and now serves on the Glennon Hospital Guild. Dad, Phil, has volunteered on fundraising
“We want to teach about giving back at a young age. We want generosity and kindness to be top priorities in our family.” When asked about the planning and strategy behind their event, the kids demonstrated their critical thinking skills. They chose donuts for the summer because most people walk through their neighborhood in the morning before it gets too hot. They wanted to catch attention before everyone was off to work or summer camps. This year they added face painting,
Left to Right: Katherine McLaughlin, Olivia Brennan, May Hauck and Georgia Budke
event committees. Grandpa Jim Brennan is a long-time Board of Governor at SSM Health Cardinal Glennon Children’s Foundation, and Grandma Rose Brennan is a member of the Glennon Guild. Oliva reflects, “Glennon is what we know and love.” When asked why it’s important to help others, Megan enthusiastically exclaims, “It's fun!” Parents Elizabeth and Phil Brennan
Left to Right: June Krummel, Megan Brennan and Annie Hauck
Above: Homemade sign for the big event; Below: Grandparents Rose and Jim Brennan supporting
share, “We want to teach about giving back at a young age. We want generosity and kindness to be top priorities in our family.” The Brennan kids are already brainstorming how they can grow their fundraiser for summer 2024. Duke says, “we hope to get more and more visitors so we can help more and more kids!”
Left to Right: Parker Sigurdson, Will Krummel and Duke Brennan
glennon.org 2023 – 2024 • 69
SPOTLIGHT
/ GLENNON FRIENDS
School of Business Trivia Night
S
enior Madelyn Britton and her classmates at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville’s School of Business embarked on a community service project as a part of their Management 470 course, aimed at practical leadership experience. Their project involved organizing a fundraising trivia night for SSM Health Cardinal Glennon Children’s Hospital, with all proceeds going to the cause. Britton has a personal connection to the Hospital stemming from her brother’s struggles with a rare immunodeficiency disorder. Her brother’s fragile immune system meant even minor illnesses resulted in lengthy hospital stays. SSM Health Cardinal Glennon’s impact on her family during her brother’s illness inspired her to give back.
Madelyn Britton (third from right) and SIUE classmates deliver funds raised for SSM Health Cardinal Glennon through their community service project
Alberici Employee Creates a Labor of Love
R
ob Morris has walked the halls of SSM Health Cardinal Glennon Children’s Hospital for many years as a member of Alberici Constructors’ internal construction team. “I see what these nurses do day in and day out for the kids, and I just have no idea how they do it!” Morris says. A woodworker in his free time, Morris was inspired to make something in their honor. “I wanted to create something that said to the nurses, ‘We see you and what you do.’” In partnership with Dan Williams, his supervisor at Alberici, Morris chose the types of wood he wanted to use, and Alberici purchased it. The beautifully handcrafted rocking chair is made from cherry, maple and wenge, an exotic wood. “I don’t like to use stains, so I choose wood that is the color I want,” Morris says. Williams chose the inspirational quote that adorns the chair. It now proudly sits in the staff zen room in the Hospital. “It’s just a place where they can go and take a load off when they need to,” Morris concludes. “They work so hard, and they deserve it.” Carved in the wood on the top of the rocking chair: "Sometimes, simply by sitting, strength is found."
70 • SSM Health Cardinal Glennon Children’s Foundation
GLENNON FRIENDS / SPOTLIGHT
1,000 Books Donated by Nationally-Acclaimed Local Artist
T
he Danis Pediatric Center at SSM Health Cardinal Glennon Children’s Hospital and Reach Out and Read (ROR) both serve predominantly marginalized and low-income children and families. As the exclusive sponsor of ROR in St. Louis for nearly 20 years, the collaboration aims to give children a foundation for success by incorporating books into pediatric care and encouraging families to read. Together, the two organizations make literacy and wellbeing essential parts of primary pediatric care. Imagine our delight when we learned that internationally known artist and activist, Cbabi Bayoc, donated 1,000 books with his illustrations!
Born Clifford Miskell Jr., he chose Cbabi Bayoc as a reminder of his purpose. Cbabi stands for "Creative Black Artist Battling Ignorance," and Bayoc stands for "Blessed African Youth Of Creativity."
Talk Baby Talk! was written exclusively for the Reach Out and Read program
“Talk Baby Talk,” written by Tricia Elam Walker, is available in English, Spanish, Portuguese, Haitian Creole, Pashto and Dari. When asked to illustrate, the book’s budget didn’t meet the artist’s usual commission. But Bayoc was inspired that the book celebrates the many ways babies and trusted adults communicate, and that it depicts families of many races and cultures in a positive and loving light — something too infrequent in baby books. To help this beautiful book afford his illustrations, Bayoc built into his agreement a generous in-kind donation of books to ROR St. Louis. Bayoc is best known for his project, “365 Days with Dad,” where he painted one image of fatherhood every day for a year to celebrate the role Black fathers have in their children’s lives. He paints the world he wants to see his — and all children — thrive in. So, while Bayoc did not know the program was housed
at SSM Health Cardinal Glennon, it’s a perfect fit for a children’s hospital dedicated to ensuring all children have access to the exceptional care they deserve. Because of Bayoc, all children who come to The Danis Pediatric Center for exceptional care will also have access to the literacy opportunities they deserve. About Reach Out and Read St. Louis • 50 Participating pediatric offices • 75,000 Books distributed annually • 50,000 Children served • $2 is the average cost of a Reach Out and Read book • 90% of families served by ROR St. Louis have a household income less than two times the federal poverty level How You Can Help SSM Health Cardinal Glennon spends approximately $150,000 per year providing books to participating pediatric offices. ROR is an all-volunteer program, so 100% of your donation will be invested in books…and the future of our region’s children.
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SPOTLIGHT
/ GLENNON FRIENDS
Rocking Chair in NICU
A
nn Karasak worked as a nurse in The Dana Brown Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) at SSM Health Cardinal Glennon Children's Hospital. She and her late husband, Ray, volunteered for SSM Health Cardinal Glennon for many years after her retirement. So, when she donated funds for a NICU rocking chair, Karasak dedicated it in his memory.
NICU staff member uses the dedicated rocking chair to help soothe a patient
" For Our Little Angels" on the armrest of the rocking chair
Kaylee Long's Lemonade Stand
O
n Jan. 14, 2014, a scan of Kaylee Long’s brain revealed a large tumor on her brain stem. A biopsy revealed the tumor was adhered and infiltrated into the brain stem and spinal cord and could not be removed. Her only recourse was chemotherapy. Kaylee had 16 months of upfront chemotherapy and many other therapies throughout the years. Her tumor is stable currently, and she has MRI scans to ensure it stays that way. Kaylee sees several specialists for associative tumor effects, including endocrinology, ophthalmology, audiology and neurology. Now in sixth grade, Kaylee loves country music, art, baking and spending time with family and friends. Her life’s ambition is to become a nurse, because “I know how much they help me and other people.” Last summer, Kaylee hosted a lemonade stand to benefit SSM Health Cardinal Glennon Children’s Hospital.
72 • SSM Health Cardinal Glennon Children’s Foundation
Kaylee hosting her lemonade stand
She raised $291 and hopes that it can help provide fun activities for kids to do while at the Hospital. She adds, “I want to be able to raise more money in the future to give to the hospitals that helped me so much!”
GLENNON FRIENDS / SPOTLIGHT
Laree + Co Clothing Donation
L
aree + Co. made an incredibly generous donation of brand new clothing for hospitalized Cardinal Glennon Lillian Rose kids. Sizing ranged from micro-preemie to Children’s 11/12 and included zip footies, peplum and bummie sets, rompers, swaddles and hats, two-piece pajama sets and blankets. Laree + Co. was started by founder, Alivia Kraft, in 2018 in honor of her daughter, Lillian Rose. Lillian was diagnosed with Trisomy 18 at 27 weeks gestation and battled through numerous hospital admissions, surgeries, procedures and more. “Each Laree + Co. collection is named after a medically complex warrior or angel because everyone's stories (no matter how short) deserve to be told just like Lillian's. When you wear or dress your little in Laree + Co., you aren't just
wearing a label, you are wearing legacies of brave warriors who are still fighting or have courageously earned their wings, and that is something to be so proud of,” says Kraft.
Laree + Co donation included one-of-a-kind zip footies, rompers, swaddles, pajama sets and much more
Deck the Halls of Glennon Homes
E
ach December, the Glennon Hospital Guild and St. Louis Homes + Lifestyles present a self-guided tour of beautifully decorated homes for the holidays by some of St. Louis’ top design teams and talented homeowners. All proceeds benefit SSM Health Cardinal Glennon Children’s Hospital. Last year's event raised $16,000 for departments like the the Dana Brown Neonatal Intensive Care Unit at SSM Health Cardinal Glennon. The fabulous homes on the tour are featured in the St. Louis Homes + Lifestyles magazine’s October issue to promote ticket sales for the December tour. Those who enjoy festive Christmas decorations, interior design and architecture will not want to miss this holiday event. Please plan to invite your friends and family members to the December 2024 tour!
Glennon Guild members at one of the decked homes for tour
glennon.org 2023 – 2024 • 73
WHERE ARE THEY NOW?
Where Are They Now? Makailya Pickrell / THEN: patient
now Family Support Program Coordinator
THEN
M
akailya began visiting SSM Health Cardinal Glennon Children’s Hospital for treatment of juvenile rheumatoid arthritis when she was 10 years old. At 25, she is now a staff member who works in an office across the hall from her first doctor. “It is surreal. It has come full circle. That was always my goal,” says Makailya Pickrell, MPH, BS, CPST, coordinator of the Family Support Program in The Dana Brown Neonatal Intensive Care Unit. Pickrell was treated at the Hospital for more than a decade. “I was here at least once a month for infusions and regular follow-ups. I was hospitalized three or four times. It was a three-and-a-half-hour drive each way,” she recalls. “My care was a lot better after we transitioned to Cardinal Glennon. I was introduced to other specialists than just rheumatologists.” The Arthritis Foundation now classifies Pickrell’s disease as juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA). It is an autoimmune disease that causes joint inflammation, swelling, stiffness and pain and may affect the skin, eyes and internal organs. JIA is believed to result from genetic and environmental factors. “There were times when I thought I would never be able to
NOW
leave my mom’s house. The people at Glennon saved my life,” Pickrell says. She remembers the Hospital as a comforting place for children. “I didn’t feel like I was in a hospital. It was very welcoming and very friendly, like a family.” Andrew J. White, MD, was Pickrell’s first rheumatologist at the Hospital. Last year he was appointed to the Chair of Pediatrics at Saint Louis University School of Medicine and Pediatrician-in-Chief of SSM Health Cardinal Glennon, where he holds the Robert W. Wilmott Endowed Professorship. “It really is a small world,” Pickrell says. A Dream “I wanted to be a doctor for as long as I can remember. I spent my senior year of high school filling out scholarship applications,” Pickrell says. “I got a full scholarship to Saint Louis University.” During her sophomore year of pre-med she revised her career goals. “My health had been steady, then I had a bump. I was taking a summer course that was very challenging. I was hospitalized with a severe migraine. I had stroke-like symptoms. I was unable to put sentences together and speak normally. I didn’t think I would physically be able to
74 • SSM Health Cardinal Glennon Children’s Foundation
handle medical school.” Pickrell still aspired to a health care career and switched her focus to social work. She earned Bachelor of Science and Master of Public Health degrees. An internship with the Safe Kids program at SSM Health Cardinal Glennon led to a job offer. Then the Family Support Program position opened. “I thought it would be awesome if I could get that job,” Pickrell says. She did. The position is supported by a grant from March of Dimes, which promotes maternal and infant health. “We work to improve the patient experience by planning activities for families,” Pickrell explains. “We provide courses on nutrition, self care, preparing for discharge and other subjects. We conduct individual and group support sessions. We also provide staff education and recognition.” While most patients remain in the unit a few days, some are hospitalized for months. “Some just need to have a surgery. Some are very premature or have a genetic disorder,” Pickrell says. “One baby has been here for 284 days. Another is waiting for a heart transplant. We have families who live two or three hours away. I know what it is like to be a patient, so I want to make the experience better for other patients.”
GLENNON DID YOU KNOW?
Glennon Did YouThen Know? I heard the voice of the Lord saying, Our Early History and Leaders /
“Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?“ And I said, Here am I. Send me! Isaiah 6:8
In 1946 Archbishop John Joseph Glennon asked Dr. Peter Danis: “God has some reason for you being here. Do you know what it is?” Dr. Peter Danis replied: “Yes Sir, I am going to build you a children’s hospital.”
“ t p r f a a
Cardinal John Joseph Glennon served as Archbishop of St. Louis from 1903 until his death in 1946. He died after his installation in Rome while traveling back through his native homeland of Ireland. His last words: “I belong to St. Louis.”
Left: Very Rev. Paul C. Reinert, S.J. President, St. Louis University
James W. Colbert, Jr. M.D., Dean, Faculty of Medicine, SLU Peter G. Danis, M.D. Prof. and Chairman, Dept. of Pediatrics, SLU
Left: The cornerstone was laid on May 23, 1954 by Archbishop Joseph E. Ritter. Standing at his right, is Dr. W.P. Glennon, brother of the late Cardinal John Glennon.
Rev. Edward T. Foote S.J. Assistant Dean, School of Medicine, SLU
Top and Right: On July 4, 1956, 23 patients move from St. Mary’s Hospital to Cardinal Glennon. Left: Reverend Mother Mary Concordia, Superior General of the Sisters of St. Mary of the Third Order of St. Francis and Sister Mary Felicia McGalloway, Sister Superior of the new Cardinal Glennon Memorial Hospital for Children.
glennon.org 2023 – 2024 • 75
W s h c – n
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GLENNON FUN
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76 • SSM Health Cardinal Glennon Children’s Foundation
impact
Dear Friends of Cardinal Glennon,
M
y connection to SSM Health Cardinal Glennon Children’s Hospital is twofold. My personal connection began with my parents, both of whom worked at the Hospital, my mom as part of perinatal outreach and my
dad as a pharmacist. My business connection came about as the result of advice I received early in my career about being a good corporate citizen. My mentor, Harvey Wallace, told me that if I aligned myself with an organization that was important to me, philanthropy would come naturally. SSM Health Cardinal Glennon was the natural choice. When I joined the accounting firm of Brown Smith Wallace, one of our partners,
Anthony J. Caleca, CPA/CGMA
Donna Beck Smith, sat on the SSM Health Cardinal Glennon Board of Governors,
and my wife, Chelly, and I became more involved with the Hospital’s fundraising programs and events. Over the last 20+ years, the firm has supported The Costas Center, The Dorothy and Larry Dallas Heart Center and many of the Hospital’s other greatest needs through The Children’s Fund. Starting with the SSM Health Cardinal Glennon Children’s Foundation Development Board and now as a member of the Board of Governors, it is my honor to continue the legacy of giving under our new brand: Armanino LLP. Armanino is a Top 20 accounting and consulting firm with offices across the United States and clients around the globe. Our purpose is clear: to be the most innovative and entrepreneurial firm that makes a positive impact for our clients, our communities and our people. Through our charitable arm, The Armanino Foundation, our employees give back through volunteerism, charitable giving and community-building activities. Every employee has an equal opportunity to nominate the charity that means the most to them. For Chelly, me and our family, the choice is simple. We consider it a privilege to be associated with a Catholic teaching hospital whose doors are always open to any child who needs them, regardless of ability to pay. For as long as we can share of our time, talent and treasure, we will. Sincerely,
Anthony J. Caleca, CPA/CGMA Partner-in-Charge — St. Louis Midwest Market Leader Manufacturing & Distribution Industry Leader Armanino LLP
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