The HSHS Medical Group Skilled Nursing Facility (SNF) Program is a new patient-first service that addresses and improves the ability to take care of high-acuity patients living in short- and long-term intermediate skilled nursing facilities and assisted living facilities. The HSHS Medical Group SNF Program is currently available at facilities located in Breese, Carlyle, Glen Carbon, Greenville, Highland, New Baden and Trenton, Illinois.
The HSHS Medical Group SNF Program care team is made up of geriatric specialists John Flick, DO, RVT, RDCS; Kyla Dewar, MD; Melissa Siebert, APRN; and Amanda Walden, APRN. Making regular rounds and working closely with patients’ primary care physicians and the internal care teams at the assisted living facilities and nursing homes they serve, the team helps:
• Improve the quality of care for SNF and assisted living patients.
• Reduce 30-day hospital readmission rates and eliminate preventable readmissions.
• Increase access to patient-first, geriatric-focused care.
• Enhance communications between patients, families and providers to enhance the quality of care.
One goal of the HSHS Medical Group SNF Program is to provide patients the same high level of care they would receive during a doctor visit on site at the facility or nursing home. Some of the services offered through the program include chronic disease management, comfort care (pain symptom control), EKGs, IV antibiotics and fluids, lab work, medication management, palliative care, wound care and x-rays. Through a partnership with HSHS Ministries, patients also have access to home health (like physical, occupational and speech therapy) and hospice care.
About the care team
Dr. Flick is a certified nursing home medical director. He received his medical degree from the University of North Texas Health Science Center in Fort Worth, Texas, and completed an internal medicine residency at St. John’s Mercy Medical Center in St. Louis, Missouri.
Dr. Dewar, an experienced skilled nursing facility physician, earned her medical degree at Saba University School of Medicine, Saba, Netherlands Antilles. She completed an internal medicine residency at St. Mary’s Hospital in St. Louis, Missouri.
Melissa Siebert, APRN, is an advanced practice registered nurse certified in geriatrics. She received her Bachelor of Science in Nursing from McKendree College in Lebanon, Illinois, and her Master of Science in Nursing from Walden University in Minneapolis, Minnesota. She also earned a post-master’s adult geriatric nurse practitioner certificate from Maryville University in St. Louis, Missouri.
Amanda Walden, APRN, is an advanced practice registered nurse experienced in long-term and rehabilitative care. She earned her Bachelor of Science in Nursing from Chamberlain College of Nursing in St. Louis, Missouri, and her Master of Science in Nursing from Maryville University in St. Louis, Missouri.
Learn more
To learn more about the HSHS Medical Group SNF Program, contact Tammy Allen, RN, MAOL, director of clinical services, at 618-206-2082 or Tammy.Allen@hshs.org.