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Janette Platter is the community chaplain at Saint Luke’s Bishop Spencer Place, a vibrant senior living community just steps from the Country Club Plaza. But in early 2025, she was just another mom seeking the very best care for her child. Fortunately, she knew it wasn’t too far away.

Kirsti Millar, a 35-year-old of Kansas City, was 23 weeks pregnant with her second child in early 2023 when her water suddenly broke. What should have been a season of joy and anticipation became a medical emergency.

Feeling “off” turned into a critical situation within moments when Stacee suffered a ruptured brain aneurysm that led to a hemorrhagic stroke.

An elementary school music teacher and jazz musician, 54-year-old Lisa was initially diagnosed with high blood pressure—the number one killer of women—in her early 30s. It is often called “the silent killer” because most who have it don’t experience any symptoms. Lisa was on blood pressure medication but had stopped taking it because she experienced side effects. She put off seeing her doctor about it for several months.

An Australian shepherd/boxer mix, Molly is one of the pet therapy pooches that—along with her human, Alexis Martin—elevate spirits around Saint Luke’s Hospice House.

Ramon Grado doesn’t remember driving home and then sprawling on the living room floor on Jan. 13, 2013. Patty, his wife of 33 years, found him there an hour later, awake and complaining about his headache.