About the Patient and Family Advocates Staff
With an extensive background (25 years) in healthcare as a Registered Nurse, combined with a law degree, founding President Carolyn Roth and her team of experts know that managing healthcare can be confusing and challenging—even for the most educated consumer. Whether individuals are in the heat of a medical crisis, need mandatory or elective surgery, have been diagnosed with an illness or feel as though a medical situation has been mishandled, the team at Patient and Family Advocates can help add clarity to the complex world of medical care.

Staff Biographies
Carolyn Roth, R.N., J.D.
Carolyn Roth, a leader in patient advocacy in St. Louis, brings a unique perspective to her clients and to the field of advocacy. With over two decades of experience in the healthcare industry combined with a law degree, she is dedicated to helping patients and their families make the best possible medical decisions.

After receiving her nursing degree from the Jewish Hospital School of Nursing in 1980, Ms. Roth pursued a B.A. in Business Management from Webster University, and then a J.D. from St. Louis University. During those years, she was employed by Jewish Hospital, initially working as a staff nurse on a Medical floor; and later with dialysis patients, always striving to ensure patient understanding and education.

It was with Goldstein & Price that Roth gained a practical knowledge of the law. As a legal assistant, her duties included data gathering, legal research, case analysis, and most importantly, educating attorneys on the significance of medical events.

She continued her role of medical-legal educator at Jefferson Memorial Hospital as Director of Risk Management, Quality Assurance, and Infection Control. Here, Ms. Roth became an expert on labor law issues on both the state and national level; workers’ compensation; and total quality management. Taking her experience in Risk Management to the BJC Health System, Roth drafted policies and procedures on legal issues and continued to educate medical personnel in medical-legal policies and procedures. In addition she designed and created the position of Patient Advocate to work in the Risk Management Department at Jefferson Memorial Hospital and Missouri Baptist Medical Center. The theory is that if a negative hospital experience is addressed and righted in a sincere and timely fashion, then the patient is less likely to seek litigation. The Patient Advocate Program at both hospitals was highly successful.

With years of extensive medical and legal experience, Ms. Roth has recently launched Patient & Family Advocates, LLC. She is an invaluable “outside support” that patients and their family members seek when they find themselves involved in a medical situation or crisis. Acting as liason, Roth works with physicians and healthcare providers to help her clients understand medical protocols to better ensure that patients are getting or have already received the best care possible.

Carolyn Roth is a member of the Missouri Bar Association, as well as a faculty member of The University of St. Francis, College of Graduate Studies. She frequently is asked to speak on topics such as End of Life Issues and Advance Directives, How to Talk with Your Doctor, and Generational Management. Ms. Roth resides in St. Louis, Missouri.

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Deborah Hampton, R.N.
Although Debbie Hampton did not become interested in Emergency Room nursing until more then eight years after graduating from High School. When she finally began a career in health care, she hit the ground running and hasn’t slowed down since.

Debbie’s first hospital job was as a Nurse Assistant in the Emergency department at Jefferson Memorial Hospital. Within six months it became apparent she was already outgrowing her position. She needed more of a challenge. So, while continuing to work full time she attended nursing school at Jefferson College and received her Associate degree in nursing in 1987. Because of her excellent nursing skills and supportive demeanor, her role in Jefferson Memorial Hospital’s emergency Department evolved from staff nurse to educator and manager over the next eighteen years. During this same time period Debbie trained and became certified in a number of areas, including Advance Life Support for both pediatric and adult patients. She also attended and was certified by the Air Evac Lifteam Academy. (Helicopter Nurse Emergency Transporter)

By 1998 Debbie was working full time as an ER Nurse; and she was supplementing her income by working part time for the Valle Ambulance District and the Air Evac Lifteam, transporting patients in critical condition. Then in 2001 while assisting the hospital attorney with preparation in the defense of a law suit, Debbie became intrigued with the legal aspects of health care. As a result, she became a Certified Legal Nurse Consultant through the Medical legal Institute in Houston Texas. Currently Ms Hampton is an ER nurse at St Luke’s Hospital. And in addition to her contributions to Patient and Family Advocates, Debbie reviews medical records for attorneys to help determine if there is a basis for litigation. She is also enrolled in a Bachelor degree Program in Nursing at the University of Phoenix, which she anticipates completing in 2007. Debbie resides in Jefferson County.

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Barbara Menke, B.S.N., R.N.
Barbara Menke has had the kind of nursing career over the last thirty years that only the brightest and most dedicated (R.N.s) Registered Nurses could hope to achieve. Since graduating from St Luke’s School of Nursing in 1974, Barb has cultivated the knowledge and sensitivity that her patients and their families count on, and sincerely appreciate.

Over the years, Ms. Menke has held a variety of nursing positions, at various prestigious medical facilities. She worked at St. Luke’s Hospital and Chester Mental Health Center for over ten years in both Psychiatry and Medical Intensive Care. In 1989 Barb was hired at Jefferson Memorial Hospital, initially as the Associate Director of Nursing, then as the Area Supervisor, and later as a Psychiatric staff nurse while she finished her Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) at Webster University. Finally, she was named as the Director of Behavioral Health Services. In this role, she was responsible for operations, marketing and program development of inpatient and outpatient services. In addition Barb designed and opened and operated the only geropsychiatric program in Jefferson County

By 2003 Ms Menke began to feel that she had strayed too far from her greatest love which was patient care and so left her prestigious position and spent a year as a staff nurse on a Medical/Surgical floor at a Medical Center in the BJC system. Currently, she is pursuing a Master of Science in Nursing/Nurse Practitioner Track from Barnes-Jewish College of Nursing and Allied Health which she anticipates completion in May 2007. In addition to her work with Patient & Family Advocates, Ms. Menke is an Intensive Care staff nurse at Missouri Baptist Medical Center; where she is responsible for the primary care of patients in a 10-bed intensive care setting.

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Mary Pat Sheahan, B.S.N., R.N.
Mary Pat Sheahan has over 25 years of nursing experience in diverse roles within the healthcare industry. After receiving her nursing diploma from the St. Luke’s Hospital School of Nursing in 1978, Ms. Sheahan began her nursing career at (SLCH) St Louis Children’s Hospital in their Open Heart (ICU) Intensive Care Unit. Because of her incredible ability to relate to all kinds of people, in addition to her patient care responsibilities; she was selected to teach classes on optimal supportive medical care, to the parents of children who were born with heart defects. Then in 1980, Mary Pat went to St Luke’s hospital where she spent a year caring for adult patients and managing the nursing staff in an 18 bed cardiac and surgical ICU. But it was not until 1981 that she found her niche in the operating room. Since then, Mary Pat has served as an operating room staff nurse, first at St. Joseph’s Hospital from 1981 to 1985. She was then courted back to St. Louis Children’s Hospital were she developed and initiated the first kidney transplant program; and was selected to represent the O.R. staff nurses on the Nurses Advisor Committee. Then in 1997 Ms Sheahan was hired in the O.R. at Barnes Jewish Hospital in West County, as a spine specialist.

To date, Ms. Sheahan is proficient in general surgery, plastic surgery, and she works on complex spine cases. And because she loves teaching, she also is a preceptor for staff and new nurses at Barnes Jewish Hospital.

Ms. Sheahan received her Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) from Webster University and resides in St. Louis, Missouri.

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Who Needs a Patient Advocate?
All of us require some type of medical intervention in our lifetime. Some medical procedures go well. Others don’t. Most are simple. Many are complex. Some of the biggest medical mistakes come from lack of clear communication and information between patients and medical care professionals. Patient and Family Advocates works on behalf of the patient and their families to help ensure misunderstandings don’t result in a tragic outcome.

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Client examples include:

• People who are currently in the heat of a medical crisis or contemplating an elective or non-elective procedure and they want an experienced healthcare professional to help them understand medical options, policies and procedures, drug interactions, and tips on improving communication with healthcare providers.
  
  
• People who would like assistance in drafting appropriate questions to ask their physician regarding specific or general medical concerns. All of our staff have a strong medical background and are able to provide an understandable medical overview to patients and their families.
  
  
• Families and patients who question whether a medical situation has been handled properly. These clients may have experienced a poor outcome that has caused them emotional pain or trauma. As a result they are seeking an independent consultation to review possible actions or resolutions. If the client ultimately decides they want to explore litigation; they may obtain outside counsel. Patient and Family Advocates does not provide referrals in this area.
  
  
• Families and patients who want someone to review their prescription medication, over the counter medication, herbal remedies and dangerous drug interactions. We will also create and maintain a complete list of our client’s current medications that we can be fax, and/or e-mail to a physician’s office, hospital, or pharmacy with client permission and at our client’s request.
  
  
• Out of town families of loved ones in a medical crisis. Often adult children who reside outside the bi-state area have difficulty obtaining information regarding the medical updates of a critically ill parent. Even when the patient and spouse have given consent for their health care facility to discuss their status with family, clients can benefit from having a contact who could cut through the red tape and keep the family current on the patients medical condition. We can also and be available to keep the lines of communication open as needed.

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Our Commitment to YOU

Hospitals and doctors have dozens of trained medical and technical staff working on their behalf to provide healthcare information to patients. But most of us don’t have these kinds of resources to help us manage through our own emotionally difficult medical situations. That’s why clients hire us. We work exclusively for you. Our team is committed to ensuring that you are making the best possible medical decisions for yourself or a loved one. We take the time you need to translate medical records, understand procedures, develop questions for doctors, and review records—and we are happy to discuss and evaluate anything else you want us to do. Whether we work behind the scenes or hold your hand while you talk with the doctor, we are here for you anytime, anywhere.

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