Missouri Health Talks

The Center Project is an LGTBQ+ community center in Columbia that serves mid-Missouri. Mel Constantine Miseo is a board member and spoke about the recently announced food share for the holidays — where anyone needing help can come to the Center Project and receive shelf stable foods.

Erin Washburn and Stephanie Daniels both work for FosterAdopt Connect in Springfield. They spoke about how some of their services — especially their Youth Connect Center can support youth ages 13 through 21, as well as families involved in the child welfare system.

Dr. Matthew Tilton and Amy Baumgartner with Northeast Missouri Health Council in Kirksville spoke about how they use AI in their clinic — having it listen to patient-provider conversations, so doctors can focus less on their note taking and more on their connection with patients.

Dr. Philip Payne is the chief health AI officer at the Center for Health AI, a collaboration between WashU Medicine and BJC Health System in St. Louis. He spoke about the code of conduct that providers should consider when employing AI in healthcare processes and decisions.

Nurses Drew Herbert and Matt Farmer are University of Missouri researchers trying to find out if generative AI, along with professional therapy, can help pregnant people with opioid use disorder who are ready to seek care.

Dr. Amy Patel is the Medical Director of the Breast Cancer Center at Liberty Hospital outside Kansas City. She spoke about an AI algorithm they use with breast ultrasounds that gives radiologists a data-informed second opinion.

Jason Mayberry is the stroke coordinator for Texas County Memorial Hospital in Houston, Missouri. They began using RapidAI, an AI software, in October 2023 that helps their doctors more quickly assess, diagnose and begin treatment for people experiencing stokes.

PFLAG Sedalia is a community group focused on serving LGBTQ+ folks and their families throughout western Missouri and beyond.

Jessi Frencken and Carmen Rathert are the co-owners of The Pediatric Place, an interdisciplinary therapy clinic in Clinton and Knob Noster that offer services, such as occupational therapy, speech therapy, physical therapy, ABA [applied behavior analysis] therapy and more.

New Growth Transit is based in El Dorado Springs, and it serves it’s community as a sort of neighbor-to-neighbor ride share – where community-member volunteers are reimbursed to drive folks to the doctor, work or to get groceries.

Once a month, the senior center in Osceola offers a toenail clinic for their patrons.

Mercy Services United is a newer initiative in Sedalia that provides a walk-in hub for social services and connection for those in need. It’s a partnership between many organizations, including the United Way of Pettis County and the ToRCH program at Bothwell Regional Health Center.

The Heckert Community Center in Sedalia opened in 2022 and offers many services to members, such as a full gym, an indoor walking track, an indoor pool, a myriad of fitness classes and more.

The Pettis County Health Center has just officially become a milk depot – which means they are now a drop off site for those wishing to donate human breast milk to help medically fragile and premature infants.

The Northeast Missouri Health Council in Kirksville is a federally qualified health center (FQHC), that serves folks throughout northeast Missouri. At an FQHC, patients regardless of income and whether or not they have insurance can access a wide variety of services, including medical and dental care.

Rural Advocates for Independent Living, or RAIL as it’s more commonly known, is an organization based in Kirksville that covers 10 counties throughout northeast Missouri. Its goal is to help people with disabilities stay independent and in their communities.

Tonia Berry and Bailey Quigley work at the Northeast Missouri Area Health Education Center (NEMO AHEC), which aims to develop the healthcare workforce in rural Missouri by engaging with high schoolers.

Makenzie Schroeder and Lissa Behm-Morrowitz at the University of Missouri recently released a study about how using social media filters to change one’s appearance can lead to a phenomenon called “social self-comparison.”

CoMo Mobile Aid is a local grassroots organization that sets up outside the local overnight shelter, Room the Inn [RATI], twice a week – offering a pop-up thrift store, a wound care station and a large, converted van where folks can get all sorts of essentials: from band aids and Tylenol to menstrual pads and shampoo.

Jaquie Melloway and John Trapp are the leadership team that run Room at the Inn, the local overnight shelter in Columbia that serves unhoused people. They spoke about some of the things that have surprised them about the folks they serve.

Reighna is an unhoused woman in her 40s. She spoke about some of the systemic challenges that can make it hard for people to climb out of homelessness, but also about the community that supports her.

Amy is an unhoused woman in her 50s who we met at Room at the Inn, the local overnight shelter in Columbia. She spoke about some of the challenges of trying to take care of her health while living on the street with chronic illnesses.

Hogs for Hunger is a program that allows farmers to donate pigs to their local food banks or senior centers for a tax deduction. Since the program began, more than 2.6 million servings of pork have been donated.

Dr. Allison Sindle is a dermatologist with Missouri Delta Medical Center in Sikeston, down in the Bootheel. She comes from a farming family and spoke about some of the ways farmers – and farmers’ loved ones – can help keep them safe from the sun.

Farming is a common way of life in Shelby County in Northeast Missouri, but farming doesn’t come without it’s challenges. In the last few years, it was found that the county had one of the highest rates of suicide by firearm in the state.