News Release Archive

Barnes-Jewish Hospital has been recognized as a “Leader in LGBT Healthcare Equality” by the Human Rights Campaign (HRC) Foundation, the educational arm of the country’s largest lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) civil rights organization.

Annette Weber, 48, of St. Louis, got a kidney/pancreas transplant in 1989. Twenty years later, the organs, and Annette are going strong.

For the first time in its 80-year history, the National Conference for Community and Justice of Metropolitan St. Louis (NCCJSTL) recently worked with the executive leadership of Barnes-Jewish Hospital, which has earned a place on U.S.News & World Report''s list of America''s best hospitals for the past 15 consecutive years.

When patients fail to take their medication, Dr. Corey Foster resists the temptation to immediately label them "non-compliant," physician-speak for patients who don''t follow doctors'' orders.

Barnes-Jewish Hospital has a vision for a better health-care system - a system that delivers excellent services to its patients and employees. To make this vision a reality, Barnes-Jewish Hospital has created the Center for Diversity and Cultural Competence.

In any given year, St. Louis health care workers might encounter more than 70 foreign languages and up to 100 different cultures in the course of providing patient care. It''s estimated that 17 percent of St. Louis families speak a language other than English as their primary language.

Originally, this day marked the creation of the World Health Organization (WHO). With WHO''s global recognition, the focus of celebration for this day has changed to mark awareness of serious health issues that are faced by citizens around the world. This year the theme for World Health Day is international health security. The goal is to urge government, organizations, and communities to "Invest in health, build a safer future."

It had been a common scene only a few years ago in St. Louis for a 10-year-old immigrant child to interpret for his parents at places including banks, hospitals and police stations.