SSM Health St. Joseph Hospital - Lake Saint Louis — Attraction in Lake Saint Louis

I had the worst possible experience ever at this hospital. Pregnant with my 2nd child, when I got there I was 9 1/2 cm dilated and my water was breaking as I walked through the hospital doors. They got me to a room and my beautiful daughter was born shortly after. She was perfectly healthy and I had a perfect delivery (no rips or tears, no stitches and no interventions needed). I tried to talk to the dr who was named Dr. Dickerhoff after delivering the baby but she didn’t respond to anything I said. She barely even looked at me. She also did not do the delayed cord clamping. And when I asked, she said 1 minute was enough. She was extremely disrespectful and rushed me to deliver the placenta even though I was exhausted and needed a minute to rest. After delivering the placenta the dr asked if my doula would be taking it. My doula told her yes and that she brought a cooler for it. I got my placenta encapsulated after my first birth so it’s not uncommon to have ur doula take ur placenta. However later on that day I had multiple nurses search my room for a “misplaced specimen.” After the 3rd nurse came in searching, finally she asked me if I took my placenta. I told her yea my doula took it. This entire time they searched my room like I was some criminal instead of just asking me or the dr about where my placenta was. They then preceded to try to tell me that I couldn’t leave the hospital after originally telling me I could leave after 24 hrs. When I asked them why, they told me because they didn’t have my blood work back. Literally an hr later they had my blood work. And everything came back normal. They then wanted a urine sample for a drug test, which I gladly gave them. And of course, everything came back normal. At this point I am getting annoyed and I am ready to go home because it’s almost as if they’re TRYING to find something wrong with me! Then they preceded to say well u can’t leave because it was the weekend and u have to have a pediatrician appointment set up first. I messaged my doula only to find out that’s not true because people get discharged on the weekends all the time. At this point I am getting extremely frustrated because now I know they r lying to me. The nurse then try’s to tell me I could leave but they would have to keep my daughter in the hospital. When I asked for what reason they just said legally we can just do that. I told them I am not leaving this hospital without my child! And they have no right to hold two healthy people hostage in a hospital against their will. I was suppose to leave the hospital Saturday morning. I did not get to leave until almost 7pm that night! And that’s only because I mustered up the courage to stand up to these LYING doctors and nurses! My husband came up with our toddler and brought me dinner. Afterwards we packed up our things went to the front desk and I told them I am leaving this hospital! The pediatrician then came up with two officers trying to intimidate me but I know my rights and know that they had no grounds to hold me or my newborn there. When I asked them to give me in writing what is wrong with either me or my baby that we have to stay, nobody had an answer. My daughter was absolutely in perfect health and so was I. The pediatrician said “I don’t recommend u leave.” Basically saying that I would be leaving “against medical advice.” I told her l don’t care, get me whatever u need me to sign because me and my baby are leaving this hospital! Sure enough they didn’t bring back any AMA papers. They brought me my discharge papers! Which is how I know they were lying this whole time saying they couldn’t discharge me because it was the weekend. Idk what is wrong with these people. Idk if it’s because we’re black, idk if they were just trying to get more money out of us by making us stay another night in the hospital. Idk what these people were up to but they were out of line for treating us this way. They were stalling, trying to hold us hostage in the hospital, and then quite literally lying! I will never have another baby in...

I visited the ER yesterday and was treated disgracefully by the morning medical staff. I came in going on 60+ hours of inability to fall asleep. The longer you go without being able to fall asleep, you more you risk damage to your brain. At this point in my condition, I was grappling with symptoms of hallucinations, paranoia, emotional disturbance, poor bodily regulation, and more. I sat in the waiting room for a total of 6 hours while everyone in the waiting room was taken back, even people who walked in several hours after me. When I asked for an update, the woman who started working the ER registration desk starting at 7am on 7/11/25 told me that my "condition is not a priority and at least I can walk." Almost verbatim. When I was finally brought back, the provider (red hair) told me that she would not be ordering any brain scans for me because my condition was a "non-emergency." These two members of staff in particular were talking to me as if I was a bother and that 60 plus hours without sleep isn't a big deal at all. It's gross misconduct and your staff should be more knowledgeable and respectful of invisible illnesses. Just because you can't see my suffering on the outside, doesn't mean I'm not suffering.

Then everything got worse when the member of administration came in talk to me. I was distressed from being treated so cruelly by the other members of staff that I told her "I don't want to be here anymore but I don't know what will happen after this." I thought it was obvious that I meant I want to leave the hospital and I don't know when I will ever be able to fall asleep because EVERYONE HERE HAS REFUSED TO HELP ME. She twisted that to try and frame me as a suicide risk and coerced me into consenting to a psych eval even though I told everyone multiple times that I don't want to see a psychiatrist and I've seen psychiatrists with nothing to show for it because my condition has never been adequately diagnosed. That's why I wanted an emergency brain scan because I've gone years trying every type of psychiatric medication in the hopes that something will change but it never does and I'm worried that my brain has a structural issue (I told this to several members of staff as well and everyone ignored me). I was made to talk to several behavioral health professionals, who are far and above much more professional than any of the medical staff I encountered the morning of 7/11. Shout out to therapist Amanda and the blond nurse, who were the only two members of staff to listen and treat me with respect that morning.

When I was finally discharged, they refused to even send me home with a sedative to finally knock me out because of the administrator that put in the false suicide risk so I was sent home with nothing at all to help with my medical emergency. The only advice they gave me was to go talk to the psychiatrist I told them I am no longer seeing. If I had known I was be so disregarded, I would never have wasted my time coming here. I was continually talked to like I was dramatic and stupid, and it is disappointing to me that I, with a bachelors in psychology, am more aware of the importance of sleep and the harmfulness of deprivation than some of your nurses and doctors. Your staff says it's dedicated to the ethical treatment of its patients, but I didn't see that dedication while I was being emotionally abused, gaslit, and ignored. You should be deeply ashamed of the emergency department for discriminating against a mental health emergency. I did not come all the way here just to be treated cruelly and sent home the exact same way I came in with no improvement or solution whatsoever. Rest assured, I will be exploring my patient rights and looking into legal resources to remedy...

(Please read the full review) I spent 13 miserable hours in the ER at Saint Joseph in Lake Saint Louis. 10 before I saw a doctor. I was having the absolute worst episode of vertigo/migraine I’ve ever had in my life - and I started getting migraines in the 3rd grade… Yesterday (and the days leading up to it) I was waking up at 3/4:00 am because of the spinning. I was miserable. When I arrived it took about an hour just to have someone acknowledge me. The waiting room was complete chaos. But the guy manning the desk (I think I was told later his name was Ryan) was amazing. I was there his whole shift and he kept positive and empathetic the entire time. No matter what came his way. I’ll admit, I was frustrated when, after waiting at least 4 hours to be triaged the nurse practitioner gave me two Tylenol and sent me back to the waiting room. I had to ask her for nausea medication when I was the one being seen for extreme vertigo… ANYWAYS:

They broke the ER waiting room into two spaces. I was taken back to the second waiting area. I was told it was actually part of their lobby but that they put up a temporary wall to accommodate patients. I was fortunate to have Nurse Lauren (supervisor) looking over my waiting room. She gave us juice, blankets and tried to keep the mood light. She apologized profusely for our wait but I knew there was nothing she could do to control it. She was just amazing.

I was finally brought back into the ER at hour 11 and was given a bed pushed against a wall. The ER (and hospital as a whole) was chaotic. But the doctor, Dr Kopp came over right away. He took the time to listen and evaluate my status. I did not feel rushed. Even though I saw him right away, it took about an hour and a half to get my medication. I was very overwhelmed, exhausted and in unbelievable pain and I broke down crying. Dr Kopp must have heard me and came over to check on me. He didn’t have to do that. He ended up speaking with me a total of 3 times last night/this morning. While upset/crying I felt a supportive arm against my back. It was Nurse Lauren. She knew how hard of a time I was having and she sought me out before she left to make sure I was okay.

Then (I later found out her name is Theresa) came up and she too put her arm around my back and comforted me. We hadn’t been introduced but she saw an upset and scared patient and took it upon herself to come and comfort me. I’ve never felt that disoriented and having their support, at that time, made all the difference in the world.

My nurse in the ER was Nurse Myndi. She is literally an angel. She was so kind and compassionate and when I apologized for breaking down/crying she took my hand and looked in my eyes and told me never to apologize for that. That I was sick and that’s what she is there for. I can’t put into words how thankful I am for Nurse Myndi. I don’t think she realizes how big of a difference she made.

Thank you so much to Nurse Myndi, Nurse Lauren, Dr Kopp, Theresa and Ryan (name?). You are heroes and it’s not only the medical care you provide, it’s the way you treat your patients. You do make a difference and I am so...