News

What should have been a dream getaway became a nightmare when a car accident forced Kelsey O’Connor and her friend off the road and into emergency care in a foreign country.

After months of persistent pain in her left hip, 37-year-old Andrea Cole of Lee’s Summit finally found answers thanks to Megan N. Mayer, MD, and Rockhill Orthopaedic Specialists.

For more than a decade, hip pain slowly chipped away at the life Clark Halferty once loved. That was until the treatment team at Rockhill Orthopaedic Specialists showed him that a pain-free life was possible.

When Karie Labelle first brought her teenage daughter, Gabriella, to Rockhill Orthopaedic Specialists, she never expected the visit would eventually lead to a life-changing surgery of her own.

Matthew Wilkinson, MD, a surgeon with Saint Luke’s kidney and liver transplant program, and Erica Sparks, a transplant coordinator with Saint Luke's, discuss the transplant process and importance of organ donation.

While thousands linger on organ waiting lists, the national transplant network is ditching 40-year-old systems and struggling to remake itself. The Beacon talked with local health leaders about the state of organ transplantation today.

Anthony Weatherspoon, who received lifesaving heart and kidney transplants, is grateful for the gift of life this April.

"Jill asked, 'If this was your father where would you take him?' And [the doctor] said, 'Saint Luke’s in Kansas City.' And Saint Luke’s saved my life."

Saint Luke's is seeing success with a voucher program in collaboration with Kanbe’s Markets, a nonprofit organization that provides access to fresh, affordable, and healthy foods to help reduce food insecurity.