Saint Francis Healthcare System Foundation and the Saint Francis Auxiliary awarded healthcare scholarships to 24 local students in August. Twenty three of the students were awarded $2,000 in scholarships toward a degree in a healthcare-related profession. One student received an executive scholarship for pursing a master’s degree in healthcare administration and received a $5,000 stipend annually for two years for a total of $10,000. The newest executive scholarship is named in honor of former Saint Francis president and CEO, Steven C. Bjelich. 

The Saint Francis Healthcare Scholarship Program was established in 1980. Saint Francis Foundation and the Saint Francis Auxiliary fund the program. Since its inception, the program has provided nearly $660,000 in education scholarships to college students in an effort to encourage participation in professional healthcare careers. Scholarship recipients must have completed at least one year in an accredited healthcare program and be currently enrolled, maintain a minimum of 3.0 GPA and complete the application and essay requirements by the scheduled deadline. They must also reside within the Saint Francis service area, as defined in the application.

The 2018 Saint Francis Healthcare Scholarship Program Recipients are:

* Jaden Barnes, MO – Earl Jr. and Lori Wills Memorial Scholarship

* Kendall Barnes, MO – Joseph and Harriette Hunter McCrate Scholarship

* Adeline Beussink, MO – Mamie Hall Memorial Scholarship

* Rachel Birkman, MO – Clara D. Newnam Memorial Scholarship

* Paige Brown, MO – Bernadean Campbell Memorial Scholarship

* Breiona Catching, MO – Saint Francis Auxiliary 125th Anniversary Scholarship

* Melinna Craft, MO – Raymond A. and Lillian K. Ritter Scholarship

* Emma Derickson, MO – Raymond A. and Lillian K. Ritter Scholarship

* Kaleigh Eastep, MO – Saint Francis Foundation Scholarship

* Alyson Fluchel, MO – Saint Francis Auxiliary Healthcare Scholarship

* Allison Hotop, MO – Evalyn and S. David Nunley Scholarship

* Lauren Kranawetter, MO – Huttegger-Scherer Memorial Scholarship

* Caleb Likens, Cape Girardeau – Edythe M. Davis Scholarship

* Alan Miller, MO – Carrie Suedekum Memorial Scholarship

* Kirsti Pohlman, MO – Ken Hayden Memorial Scholarship

* Macy Shively, MO – Saint Francis Auxiliary Physician Honor Scholarship

* Eileen Sievers, MO – Lucy Ellen Towse Memorial Scholarship

* Kayla Uhrhan, MO – Sisters of Saint Francis Nursing Scholarship

* Zachary Vogel, MO – Lee George and Katherine Jane Cochran Memorial Scholarship

* Tatum Wallace, MO – Christen Joyel Aufdenberg Memorial Scholarship

* Emily Weber, MO – Susan E. Hinkebein Memorial Scholarship

* Jacob Wren, MO – Bess Estes Healthcare Scholarship

* Angela Wright, MO – Mark F. Scully Scholarship

* Kandra Voshage, MO – Steven C. Bjelich Executive Scholarship

The members of the 2018 Scholarship Committee include: Debbie Balsano, Dori Lage, Jessica Riley, Debra Schumer and Becky Swoboda.

For more information about the Saint Francis Healthcare Scholarship Program, call 573-331-5133 or visit foundation.sfmc.net.

Saint Francis Foundation is a not-for-profit, tax-exempt charitable organization that supports Saint Francis Medical Center by strengthening the institution overall and reaffirming its mission of supporting the community and the people it serves. Formally organized in 1976, its mission reflects the Medical Center’s priorities through fundraising efforts that support the community. The Foundation sponsors several annual events, including golf tournaments, and philanthropic activities such as annual appeals, memorials, endowment funds, planned giving, grants and major gifts. Through the generosity of the community, staff and volunteers, the Foundation accepts contributions each year to purchase state-of-the-art equipment, provide patient and employee assistance, create new programs that help patients in the region, and improve facilities at the Medical Center. 

Saint Francis Healthcare System is guided by our mission to provide a ministry of healing, wellness, quality and love inspired by our faith in Jesus Christ. Founded by Franciscan Sisters in 1875, our priority remains the same: serve all who enter with dignity, compassion and joy. Serving nearly 713,000 people across Missouri, Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee and Arkansas, our focus is on patients' outcomes, experience and value.

Anchored by Saint Francis Medical Center, a 308-bed tertiary hospital, and supported by nearly 2,800 employees and more than 250 providers in eight communities, the Healthcare System is a driving economic force in the region. Major services include the Cancer Institute, Emergency and Level III Trauma Center, Family BirthPlace and the region's only Level III Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, Heart Hospital, Neurosciences and Orthopedics.

It’s Not Too Early

October seems so far away. With the weather so hot and humid I look forward to the cooler days of fall. Fall brings not only cooler weather, beautiful leaf transformations and football, it also brings us Medicare Part D Open Enrollment, October 15-December 7.

Every year those on Medicare get a chance to review their prescription drug coverage, to make sure it is the best fit for the coming year. Medicare drug plans can change every year and sometimes beneficiaries are surprised by the changes. All beneficiaries will receive an Annual Notice of Change (ANOC) from their plans before open enrollment begins, usually in September. The ANOC includes any changes in coverage, costs, or service area that will be effective in January for the plan you are currently on. If you do not receive this notice, contact your plan.

The costs of the plan including the monthly premium and the deductible can go up or even down. The plans can change what medicines they cover, what tier the medicines are on and even the co-pays for each medication. It is always a good idea to at least look at what is available even if the plan you have was great this year. Open enrollment gives those who opted out of drug coverage an opportunity to get into a drug plan and allows beneficiaries to get in or out of Medicare Advantage plans.

Med D Open Enrollment is always a fun and busy time for our staff. We gather some basic information such as your zip code, list of medications and the pharmacy you prefer to use. This information will allow us to determine which plans will cover your medicine at the best cost. We also use this time to screen for any of the extra help programs that help pay for the different parts of Medicare. A single person who makes $18,210 or less per year and a couple who make $24,690 or less per year could qualify for some extra help.

If you are a daring soul and would like to look up drug plan information on our own, you can go to Medicare.gov, choose the green “Find health & drug plans” option and input your information. 

Aging Matters will have Open Enrollment Events throughout our 18 county service area, so if you need assistance, please call us and we will be glad to help, 800-392-8771, option 3.

Saint Francis Medical Center welcomes nurse practitioner Allison Brown, MSN, FNP-C, to the Hospitalist Department adding another level of care for our patients. She joins 19 other providers who are dedicated to caring for hospitalized patients at the Medical Center

Brown comes to Saint Francis from University of Missouri Hospital in Columbia, Missouri. She earned her Master of Science in nursing from the University of Cincinnati in Cincinnati, Ohio and is Board Certified from the American Academy of Nurse Practitioners. 

Nurse practitioners are nurses who have undergone advanced training and are able to diagnose and treat illnesses and injuries, order lab work and imaging tests, and write prescriptions. They can manage many health conditions, teach health promotion and help patients with disease prevention.

Hospitalists are doctors who focus on the general medical care of hospitalized patients. Available 24 hours a day, seven days a week, Saint Francis hospitalists are dedicated to coordinating and managing the healthcare needs of each patient from admission to discharge. Hospitalists help ensure a seamless continuum of care among primary care doctors, physician specialists and inpatient care providers. 

To learn more about these new physicians and the role of hospitalists at Saint Francis, visit www.sfmc.net.

Saint Francis Healthcare System is guided by our mission to provide a ministry of healing, wellness, quality and love inspired by our faith in Jesus Christ. Founded by Franciscan Sisters in 1875, our priority remains the same: serve all who enter with dignity, compassion and joy. Serving nearly 713,000 people across Missouri, Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee and Arkansas, our focus is on patients' outcomes, experience and value.

Anchored by Saint Francis Medical Center, a 308-bed tertiary hospital, and supported by nearly 2,800 employees and more than 250 providers in eight communities, the Healthcare System is a driving economic force in the region. Major services include the Cancer Institute, Emergency and Level III Trauma Center, Family BirthPlace and the region's only Level III Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, Heart Hospital, Neurosciences and Orthopedics.

Saint Francis Medical Center welcomes nurse practitioner Austin Roubidoux, APRN, FNP-C, to the Emergency Department. He joins 14 other emergency providers in Saint Francis’ Emergency and Trauma Center, the region’s only state-designated Level III Trauma Center. 

He earned his Master of Science in nursing from Cox College in Springfield, Missouri and is Board Certified from the American Academy of Nurse Practitioners. 

Nurse practitioners are nurses who have undergone advanced training and are able to diagnose and treat illnesses and injuries, order lab work and imaging tests, and write prescriptions. They can manage many health conditions, teach health promotion and help patients with disease prevention.

Saint Francis Healthcare System is guided by our mission to provide a ministry of healing, wellness, quality and love inspired by our faith in Jesus Christ. Founded by Franciscan Sisters in 1875, our priority remains the same: serve all who enter with dignity, compassion and joy. Serving nearly 713,000 people across Missouri, Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee and Arkansas, our focus is on patients' outcomes, experience and value.

Anchored by Saint Francis Medical Center, a 308-bed tertiary hospital, and supported by nearly 2,800 employees and more than 250 providers in eight communities, the Healthcare System is a driving economic force in the region. Major services include the Cancer Institute, Emergency and Level III Trauma Center, Family BirthPlace and the region's only Level III Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, Heart Hospital, Neurosciences and Orthopedics.

Isn’t it funny how you can look at something every day and never really see it? That is the case with our One Incident Away buttons. I have one on my filing cabinet and I look at it almost every day and recently have realized the truth in that one little statement.

The One Incident Away buttons are distributed by the Missouri Association of Area Agencies on Aging (MA4). MA4 is comprised of the 10 Area Agencies on Aging in Missouri, one of which is Aging Matters. MA4 provides statewide advocacy and resources to seniors. One of their most effective tools is the One Incident Away buttons. These are handed out at events to remind seniors, law makers, caregivers and others that we can be just one incident away from personal disaster. The MA4 website, ma4web.org has many stories that I encourage you to read. I have a few stories of my own that I would like to share.

John (all names and locations have been changed) and his wife had lived a good life, they were in their early 70’s. He owned his own business and she was a stay at home mother and homemaker, they were comfortable. Then she got sick. John spent more time taking care of her and making sure she went to the doctor and took her medicines and spent less time overseeing his business. Eventually they had to sell the business to pay for her care. When they came to visit me they were concerned they would not have money to pay for her medicines and that they would have to sell their home. I was able to help them apply for Extra Help to pay for her medicines and help them get the Mo Property Tax Credit they had never applied for. With just this help they are able to live at home and have all their needs met.

Another example is Linda, her husband passed away after more than 50 years together. She found that although her income was cut almost in half, she still had the same bills. She was very afraid that she would lose everything. She wasn’t eating or taking her medication as she needed to be. She also had little interaction with others. We were able to help her sign up for Medicaid and convince her to go to her local senior center for nutritious meals and some much needed social interaction, Linda is now thriving. She is even considering starting a knitting group at her local center.

These are just a few of the stories we hear every day. Aging Matters and MA4 strive to help the seniors in Missouri be prepared and knowledgeable about programs available to help. If you need assistance, Aging Matters has many programs to help with food, medication and other services. 

All it takes is one incident to have a very dramatic impact on how you live your life. Many things in life are not predictable, we never know when we may get sick or have a life altering injury, but there is comfort in knowing that there are people willing to help. Those who can advocate and guide you if you ever find yourself needing help. One Incident Away from a life changing issue, one call away from help and advocacy.

Aging Matters is there to help, 573-335-3331 or 800-392-8771.