Doctors, nurses and health care administrators will be among the honorees at The St. Louis American Foundation’s 2010 Salute to Excellence in Health Care awards luncheon to be held Saturday, April 24 at the Ritz Carlton Hotel in Clayton. Much more extended profiles will appear in the Salute tabloid.
Martha Ballentine, LCSW
After 33 years in the health care system now known as BJC, Martha Ballentine, LCSW, recently retired from the Alvin J. Siteman Cancer Center, where she worked for eight years as a clinical financial specialist, assisting patients with finding funds to receive cancer treatment.
Ballentine described her role as “patient advocate.”
“I could provide the resources, so they could focus on the other parts of their health care and getting well,” she said
Ballentine coordinated a grant through Siteman that helps to provide medical care for cancer patients who are not eligible for other programs.
In her busy retirement, she plans to stay active on the advisory committee of the Black Women’s Breast Cancer Survivors Project and with the Association of Oncology Social Work.
Kelly Edwards, NP
A family nurse practitioner at the West End OBGYN part of BJC Medical Group, Kelly Edwards, NP, has been a nurse practitioner for 10 years and an RN for more than 20 years.
“I find it very rewarding to take care of people. I like to empower them,” Edwards said.
Edwards does not focus only on her patients’ physical health; she tries to make sure their state of mind is healthy too.
Edwards has a personal mission to promote health awareness to women so they can improve their quality of life and live longer.
Edwards suggests to future family nurse practitioners that they have a high level of compassion and remain non judgmental and open-minded.
Anitra Galmore, RNC
Anitra Galmore is director of women’s services at SSM Health Care DePaul Health Center in Bridgeton, where she has worked for more than 17 years. Her responsibilities include 85 staff members, and patients in labor and delivery, gynecological surgery and the nursery.
“I’ve always been intrigued about patient care and nursing,” Galmore said.
Her mother is an advanced practice nurse at SSM and her late grandmother was an emergency room secretary in Hannibal, Mo.
Galmore was named as one of 30 leaders in their 30s last year by North County Inc. and is a 2010 leadership finalist for excellence in nursing by St. Louis Magazine.
She has several certifications: as a master team trainer, electronic fetal monitoring and neonatal resuscitation.
Carmen K. Hill, RN
Carmen K. Hill, RN, works as a school nurse for the St. Louis Public School system and intensive-care unit nurse at SSM Health Care DePaul Health Center. She has been an RN for 33 years.
She said having a high level of tolerance and compassion for others is important when working with children.
“These children are like your own,” Hill said.
With the epidemic of childhood and adult obesity, Hill said, parents and their children need to become better educated about what they eat.
“You have to listen to your body. Be aware of oneself,” Hill said.
Hill urged the community to exercise, drink plenty of water and read food labels carefully to avoid eating unhealthy additives and ingredients.
Toni Johnson, RN
Toni Johnson, RN, is director of surgical services at SSM Health Care St. Mary’s Health Center in St. Louis. She oversees the surgical services area, which includes operating room, endoscopy, same day surgery, post-anesthesia care unit and sterile processing department.
Johnson is described as having “an innate ability to lead rather than manage her team,” and is credited with an instrumental role in the transition from paper to electronic records last November.
“You just do what you do because it’s right,” Johnson said.
Johnson works in the health ministry at her church, Abundant Life Fellowship, and is a team leader for mentors at the Hervey Foundation for at-risk youth.
Robert Moore, DPM
Dr. Robert Moore, DPM is a podiatrist and foot and ankle surgeon at Betty Jean Kerr People’s Healthcare Centers in St. Louis, where he has worked for 28 years. His practice includes foot and ankle surgery, diabetic foot care, pediatric and geriatric foot care, as well as general and local foot care.
Moore said, “It’s my epitome of gratification – so you can walk comfortably without pain.”
He is board certified in reconstructive foot and ankle surgery by the American Board of Podiatric Surgery. Moore served as director of Podiatric Surgical Residency Training at Central Medical Center and continues to train podiatric residents in surgery at St. Mary’s Health Center.
He is a member of the American Podiatric Medical Association and the National Podiatric Medical Association and is a fellow in the American College of Foot Surgeons.
Travis Threats, Ph.D
Travis Threats has changed the world’s standards for evaluating communication disorders.
As director of the Clinical Education Communication Sciences and Disorders at Saint Louis University and a professor, he said, “I consider all of the students who treat people once they leave here part of my responsibility. All of their future clients become my clients.”
Also, he has worked closely with the World Health Organization’s International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health. In 2007, he rewrote these worldwide guidelines based on a simple concept.
When health professionals decide the goals for their patients’ treatments, the results will never be as successful as when the patients initiate the results themselves.
Threats saw this firsthand when his younger brother with autism entered speech pathology therapy.
The therapist said Threats’ brother was progressing because he could identify 20 words. But in fact, he had just memorized the words.
“He never asked if he was talking at home; it didn’t matter,” Threats said.
Glenda White, BSN, RN
Glenda White, BSN, RN, is the CEO and president of Medi-Plex, which serves senior citizens as out-patients.
She owns and operates her own business, but her mind is on the people, not the profits. This includes those without health insurance.
“We change peoples’ lives every day,” White said.
If a doctor who attends at Medi-Plex personally calls her about a patient, White said, she has no problem making a home visit to see how the patient is doing.
“I’m not just a caregiver by nature, it’s how I’ve been trained,” said White, who has been an nurse for 10 years.
White focuses on bettering the health of the St. Louis community and believes that many health problems can be prevented if people take time to educate themselves.
The 2010 Salute to Excellence in Health Care Awards Luncheon will take place Saturday, April 24 at the Ritz Carlton Hotel in Clayton, Mo. Tickets are $75 each. VIP/Corporate tables of 10 are available for $750. Individual tables of 10 are available to $500. For more information, call 314-289-5425.