Barnes-Jewish Hospital

08/20/2026

Time is the most meaningful gift medicine can give. We're privileged to share this story of resilience and gratitude, and we’re thankful for the WashU Medicine experts at Barnes-Jewish Hospital and Siteman Cancer Center who make stories like this one possible for countless patients each and every day.

Dr. Michael S. Avidan, former head of the Department of Anesthesiol...

08/19/2026

We’re excited to introduce our new robotic-assisted surgical system, bringing the next generation of minimally invasive surgical technology to our operating rooms at Barnes-Jewish Hospital.

This technology offers patients who are candidates for robotic-assisted surgery smaller incisions, less pain, and easier recovery.

“Investing in the latest robotic technology reflects our commitment to providing advanced care to our community,” says WashU Medicine transplant surgeon Adeel Khan, MD. “This new addition to our robotic fleet will advance our capacity to innovate and be global leaders in the field of minimally invasive transplantation and liver, pancreas and biliary surgery.”

Already recognized for performing the first fully robotic liver transplant in the United States, the abdominal transplant team was the first at Barnes-Jewish to put the new technology to work, continuing a legacy of surgical innovation focused on transforming lives through the gift of a second chance.

“What makes robotic systems powerful is the experience of the team using them,” says WashU Medicine transplant surgeon Jessica Lindemann, MD. “For complex procedures, precision, planning, and teamwork matter at every step.”

Innovation matters most when advanced tools are matched with clinical expertise and patient-centered care to help expand what is possible for patients.

08/13/2026

Today, we are proud to celebrate a new chapter for palliative and supportive care in our community.

BJC Health has made a significant investment through The Foundation for Barnes-Jewish Hospital to advance serious illness and end-of-life care through the newly named Liekweg Family Palliative and Supportive Care Institute. The Institute is named in honor of Richard J. Liekweg, retired BJC CEO, his wife, Stacey, and their daughter, Caroline.

For many, Rich’s name is closely tied to leadership, service, and a deep commitment to improving care for patients and families. The Institute’s new name recognizes that legacy, while also honoring the Liekweg family’s shared commitment to compassionate care for people facing serious illness, including palliative, hospice and end-of-life care.

Palliative care supports people living with serious illness, helping patients manage symptoms, understand difficult choices and receive support alongside treatment. Hospice care supports people near the end of life with specialized physical, emotional and spiritual care focused on comfort, dignity and quality of life.

For Rich and his family, the importance of this care became personal.
“During my brother’s end-of-life journey at a hospital in another part of the country, I learned firsthand the importance of palliative and hospice care, as well as the challenges a health system can face in delivering that care effectively,” Liekweg says.

That experience helped shape a commitment that has grown through BJC HealthCare, Barnes-Jewish Hospital, WashU Medicine and The Foundation for Barnes-Jewish Hospital, including the creation of Evelyn’s House and the Liekweg Family Palliative and Supportive Care Institute.

With this investment, the newly named Institute will continue advancing clinical innovation, research, education, advocacy, and community engagement for patients and families facing serious illness and the end of life.

“I’m proud of BJC’s commitment to advance palliative and hospice care, and my family and I are honored to have our name connected to this important work,” Liekweg says.

Learn more about the Institute’s vision for advancing compassionate care: https://heyor.ca/VUI7O3

08/07/2026

At 22, our cardiac nurse Abigail had unknowingly lived her entire life with one of her arteries on the wrong side of her heart. She was just beginning her career at Barnes-Jewish Hospital when symptoms she had brushed aside for years became impossible to ignore.

One day last November, Abigail worked through chest pain, but by the time she got home after her shift, her symptoms had worsened. With numbness in her arm and difficulty breathing, she sought emergency care and soon found herself transferred back to Barnes-Jewish—as a patient.

There, physicians discovered the rare congenital heart defect.

“It was a relief to finally have an answer,” Abigail says.

Because Abigail's condition had been there since birth, her care required specialists who understood the unique challenges of congenital heart disease.

WashU Medicine Physicians at Barnes-Jewish Hospital and St. Louis Children's Hospital worked together to restore blood flow to her heart. After surgery repositioned her right coronary artery, follow-up testing confirmed that her heart function was strong.

“Even though everything happened so quickly, I never questioned that I was exactly where I needed to be,” Abigail says.

Following cardiac rehabilitation, Abigail gradually returned to work on the same cardiothoracic surgery unit where she had recovered as a patient. Today, Abigail is back to running, playing sports and caring for patients at Barnes-Jewish.

“It changed how I care for patients,” she says. “I understand what patients are feeling in a way I never could before.”

Read Abigail's story and see how specialized heart care helped bring her full circle from caregiver to patient—and back again: https://heyor.ca/33YbUZ

08/05/2026

For many mothers spending weeks or even months at Barnes-Jewish Hospital due to a high-risk pregnancy, Thursdays become the day they look forward to most.

It's the day they gather with other expectant moms in the hospital's antepartum (pre-delivery) arts program, and spend time creating everything from baby blankets and memory boxes to friendship bracelets and stuffed animals.

But beyond the crafts, its real purpose is connection.

Our antepartum arts program provides a sense of community during a time that can often feel isolating. While navigating pregnancies and spending time away from family and daily routines, patients find support from others who understand exactly what they're going through.

For more than 15 years, the program has helped bridge the gap between hospital rooms—creating friendships, fostering resilience, and reminding patients they aren't alone.

Hear the program's impact on patients and families and why it is drawing attention across the nation in this St. Louis Public Radio interview with the team behind it: https://heyor.ca/c66mhv

"Pregnancy by itself is a risk factor for depression and anxiety," said Joanna Rosenthal, with the perinatal behavioral health service at Barnes-Jewish Hospital. "Then hospitalizations exacerbate some of those vulnerabilities."

08/04/2026

#1 in St. Louis. #1 in Missouri.

Barnes-Jewish Hospital, with care provided by WashU Medicine Physicians, is honored to once again be ranked as the #1 hospital in St. Louis and Missouri on U.S. News and World Report's 2026–2027 Best Hospitals list.

Barnes-Jewish ranked nationally in 10 specialties, including cancer; diabetes and endocrinology; rheumatology; gastroenterology and gastrointestinal surgery; geriatrics; neurology and neurosurgery; obstetrics and gynecology; orthopedics; pulmonology and lung surgery; and urology. Barnes-Jewish was also ranked #1 in both St. Louis and Missouri for cancer and orthopedic care and rated as high performing in 17 procedures and conditions.

Barnes-Jewish Hospital joins other BJC HealthCare hospitals in the St. Louis regional rankings, including Missouri Baptist Medical Center at #2, Christian Hospital at #6, and Memorial Hospital Belleville and Memorial Hospital Shiloh at #7.

Additionally, Barnes-Jewish was recognized as a “Best Regional Hospital for Community Access,” an honor given to fewer than 100 hospitals nationwide for their success in caring for patients in historically underserved communities.

Thank you to our clinical teams for their expertise, compassion, and dedication to excellence—we are incredibly proud of the exceptional care you provide!

See the complete list of BJC Health honors here: https://heyor.ca/92NALM

07/31/2026

Keith and David talk like men who have known each other for decades.

But when they met in 2025, they were strangers with two things in common: both needed double lung transplants, and both came to the WashU Medicine and Barnes-Jewish Transplant Center for care.

Keith had been living with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). David was facing idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, a lung disease that causes scarring to build up in the lungs. Both men spent years watching their lung function decline until transplant became their best option.

At the Transplant Center, a team of specialists from across disciplines guided them through the entire process—bringing decades of transplant experience to every step of the journey.

Keith received his transplant first. A few weeks later, David got his.

After surgery, Keith and his wife, Amy, and David and his wife, Caren, stayed at Mid-America Transplant’s Family House to remain close to Barnes-Jewish during recovery. That’s where an unexpected friendship began.

Soon, the two couples were encouraging each other through the demanding days after transplant. Five times a week, Keith and David returned to Barnes-Jewish for pulmonary rehabilitation, follow-up appointments, blood tests, X-rays, and other important steps in the transplant recovery process.

“What I admired about David is that he really worked hard,” Keith says. “He really put the effort into his physical rehab. It was an inspiration to me.”

“Keith was always there for me,” David says. “He was ahead of me in the process, so I’d ask him how he felt about something. He shared everything.”

Today, both men are back home and breathing easier.

“I haven’t felt this good in 20 years,” Keith says.

Keith and David no longer live just a few doors apart, but the couples still get together for dinners and share countless laughs.

When Amy gave Keith a photo album after they returned home, he noticed something as he flipped through its pages: David and Caren appeared again and again.

“We can’t have a lung transplant story without David and Caren in it,” Amy says. “Keith and David refer to one another as brothers, and that’s what they are now.”

Read Keith and David’s story and see how transplant care at Barnes-Jewish Hospital gave two strangers a second chance at life—and a brother to share it with: https://heyor.ca/6wVcSH

07/29/2026

After four unsuccessful rounds of In vitro fertilization (IVF), three miscarriages, and an adoption that had fallen through, Casey’s dream of growing her family was finally coming true.

She was pregnant with identical twin girls: Sophia and Lilliana. The joy was overwhelming. So was the fear.

The twins were monochorionic-diamniotic—each baby had her own gestational sac but shared a placenta. Because her pregnancy was high-risk, Casey would need frequent ultrasounds and a team watching closely for changes.

Casey was referred to Jeannie Kelly, MD, MS, a WashU Medicine maternal-fetal medicine specialist at the Fetal Care Center. There, WashU Medicine Physicians and care teams across Barnes-Jewish Hospital and St. Louis Children's Hospital come together to provide advanced, highly specialized care moms and babies need when facing complex pregnancies.

At every biweekly visit, the team watched for twin-to-twin transfusion syndrome—a serious complication in which one baby receives more blood flow from the shared placenta than the other. If TTTS developed, the Fetal Care Center is the only center in the region capable of performing a minimally invasive laser procedure to treat it while babies are still in the womb.

Casey’s 20-week scan revealed placenta previa, which occurs when the placenta partially covers the cervix, blocking the baby’s exit path during delivery. To stay closer to her care team, Casey moved from Cape Girardeau to St. Louis and stayed with her grandmother for the final months of her pregnancy.

Right before her 35th week of pregnancy, Casey woke up feeling off. She went straight to Barnes-Jewish, and within minutes she was in the operating room.

Sophia and Lilliana arrived weighing 5 and 4 pounds—two baby girls Casey had fought so hard to meet. Both girls spent time in the Level IV NICU at St. Louis Children’s Hospital, which is connected to Barnes-Jewish Hospital by a walkway so Casey could stay close, walking from her patient room to the NICU during those precious first days.

Now two years old, the twins are bonding with their siblings and living a healthy and happy life.

“My care team was always 12 steps ahead and so prepared for anything,” Casey says. “Knowing they were prepared meant they would never just be reacting in the moment, which is what sets them apart—the detail in every plan for every possible situation is unmatched.”

Read Casey’s story and see how the Fetal Care Center helped her navigate a high-risk pregnancy and bring Sophia and Lilliana home: https://heyor.ca/260E3u

07/14/2026

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