WashU Medicine Physicians

08/07/2026

Congratulations to the teams at Barnes-Jewish Hospital, St. Louis Children's Hospital and other BJC HealthCare hospitals recognized in this year's U.S. News & World Report Best Hospitals rankings. We're proud that WashU Medicine physicians and advanced practice providers are part of the teams delivering exceptional care every day.

See the full list of honors: https://heyor.ca/92NALM

130 recognitions. Seven regional Top 10 hospitals. One commitment to exceptional care.

This year, BJC Health received 130 recognitions for clinical excellence from U.S. News and World Report. Multiple BJC hospitals were recognized among the best in Missouri, including Barnes-Jewish Hospital with care provided by WashU Medicine Physicians, Missouri Baptist Medical Center, Saint Luke's Hospital of Kansas City, Saint Luke's East Hospital, and Christian Hospital. In Illinois, Memorial Hospital Belleville and Memorial Hospital Shiloh was recognized among the best hospitals in both the St. Louis metro area and the state.

These new rankings join St. Louis Children's Hospital, which is ranked nationally in all 11 pediatric specialties.

These recognitions represent something bigger: exceptional care, trusted partnerships, and better outcomes for the patients and communities we serve. They reflect the expertise, compassion, and dedication our caregivers and clinical teams bring to patients every day.

We're proud of what we've achieved together and honored to continue advancing exceptional care across the Midwest.

Explore the full list of BJC Health honors here: https://heyor.ca/92NALM

08/06/2026

Perimenopause and menopause can look different for every person, and you don't have to navigate the changes alone.

In a recent feature with St. Louis Magazine, Stacy Selbert, APRN, WHNP-BC, MSCP, a WashU Medicine nurse practitioner and Menopause Society Certified Practitioner, shares what you should know about recognizing symptoms, understanding treatment options and finding the right support.

Read the full article:

From hot flashes to mood changes to joint pain, local menopause specialists explain what's normal and where to seek menopause care.

08/05/2026

If you struggle to get enough outdoor play time with your kids, you’re not alone. Find out tips and tricks for getting more fresh air from Dean Odegard, MD, a WashU Medicine pediatrician at Arch Pediatrics.

To make an appointment, please call: 314-525-0580

07/29/2026

Looking to stay healthy as you age? Ellie Fishbein, MD, a WashU Medicine primary care physician who specializes in caring for adults 65 and older, shares her top three tips for healthy aging.

To schedule an appointment with Dr. Fishbein, call 314-273-4374.

07/24/2026

View the full list of WashU Medicine Top Doctors® here:
https://physicians.washu.edu/find-a-doctor/top-doctors

The right team. The right place. The right doctor. Right here in St. Louis. Congratulations to our physicians named to St. Louis Magazine's Top Doctors issue — on shelves this week. Learn more about how our patients benefit from connected care at https://bit.ly/4wTXNJb w/BJC HealthCare

07/23/2026

“People would never ask about it, but they wondered. And people who knew me were concerned.”

For years, Patrick lived with hemifacial spasm, a condition that caused the muscles on the left side of his face to twitch and tighten without warning.

“It looked like I was winking at people all the time. But I couldn’t control it.”

At first, it was annoying. Then it started affecting everything. His eye would squeeze shut while he was working. Reading became difficult. Driving made him nervous. Sometimes he had to physically pull his eyelid open just to see.

For more than five years, Patrick relied on repeated Botox® injections, which helped briefly, but the symptoms always returned. Patrick wanted his life back.

That's when he found Kumar Vasudevan, MD, a WashU Medicine neurosurgeon at Christian Hospital. Dr. Vasudevan helped Patrick understand what was causing his symptoms: A blood vessel inside his skull was pressing against a facial nerve. Every beat of his heart was a potential trigger.

Dr. Vasudevan recommended microvascular decompression surgery to address the root cause of the problem. Less than a month after his first appointment, Patrick underwent the procedure.

After surgery, the spasms were gone. No pain. No twitching. No struggling to keep his eye open. Just relief.

"Many patients with debilitating symptoms do not realize that they can often be completely cured with surgery," Dr. Vasudevan says.

Today, the only reminder of the condition is a small scar near his left ear.

“It was just instant recovery and relief,” Patrick says. “I see better and have increased confidence in everything I do. I should have done it sooner.”

Read Patrick's story to learn how expert neurosurgical care helped him find lasting relief: https://heyor.ca/yFquzu

07/22/2026

When Ben Motl unracked 225 pounds for a bench press challenge in February 2024, something went dangerously wrong: The barbell slipped off the rack and came down directly onto his face, crushing his nose.

Motl’s injury was more extensive than it appeared at first. Because of that, he couldn’t get restful sleep. WashU Medicine otolaryngologist Eric Barbarite, MD, helped change that.

Read Motl’s story:
https://physicians.washu.edu/225-pounds-crushed-his-nose-a-rhinoplasty-fixed-his-sleep

07/15/2026

From purple hands and feet to lots of sneezing, babies do a lot of “weird” things – and parents might worry.

Danielle Larsen, MD, a WashU Medicine pediatrician at Arch Pediatrics, helps families understand what is expected during the first weeks and months of life so they can feel confident caring for their baby.

Learn about 10 common things that happen during the newborn phase:

https://physicians.washu.edu/is-this-normal-understanding-common-baby-behaviors

07/14/2026

Even before she was pregnant, Jill already had the perfect name for her daughter: Olive.

Then, at her 22-week anatomy scan, she was told her unborn daughter had a rare diagnosis that is often fatal.

After multiple miscarriages, Jill had come through so much to get to this point. She was not going to give up now—or leave without knowing her options.

“Which specialist do we need to see?” she remembers asking.

Her OB-GYN referred Jill to the Fetal Care Center—a collaboration between Barnes-Jewish Hospital, WashU Medicine, and St. Louis Children's Hospital that coordinates highly specialized care for families facing the most complex prenatal diagnoses. There, Katherine Bligard, MD, MA, a WashU Medicine maternal-fetal medicine specialist and associate director of the Fetal Care Center, moved quickly.

Olive had hydrops—a rare condition that occurs in about 1 in 2,000 pregnancies and causes fluid to build around a baby’s vital organs, threatening survival before birth.

First, the team drained fluid from around Olive’s lungs. When the fluid returned, they placed two tiny shunts in Olive’s chest at 24 weeks to divert the excess fluid. Jill was then seen twice a week for the rest of her pregnancy.

At 35 weeks, Jill welcomed Olive into the world at Barnes-Jewish Hospital. Olive then spent 29 days in the Level IV NICU at St. Louis Children’s Hospital—close enough that Jill could walk across the walkway between the two hospitals to be with her.

Today, Olive is healthy, happy, and already full of personality. She doesn't yet know the obstacles she overcame to get here, but her mom plans to tell her all about it one day as a reminder to never give up.

Read Jill’s full story and see how the Fetal Care Center brings together experts to change what’s possible for families: https://heyor.ca/GxRBcd

07/14/2026