Care That Changed Her Career

As the patient experience manager at Missouri Baptist Medical Center, Abby Bettlach, MSN, RN, interacts daily with patients and their loved ones.

The patient experience team she leads helps guests feel supported from the moment they arrive at the hospital. Whether it’s answering questions, navigating visits, or addressing concerns about care, patient experience team members listen and work to provide solutions. They also gather feedback through conversations and surveys and use that information to partner with caregivers to strengthen the delivery of care.

“We want to bring the patient voice to the table for the hospital,” Abby says. “We also work with all the service lines and hospital staff members to recognize what’s working well and where we can improve.”

Abby never forgets what it’s like to walk in a patient’s shoes. It was her family’s experience receiving exceptional care at Missouri Baptist that inspired her to pursue the job she loves.

When Abby arrives at work, she remembers a delivery room where urgency ended with a celebration of her daughter’s arrival. She recalls how anxiety was replaced with calm confidence after a surgeon sat down to talk with her family. She sees the hospital that supported her family with exceptional care when it mattered most. Twice.

In 2018, Abby and her husband, Dan Bettlach, chose Missouri Baptist for prenatal care during Abby’s pregnancy. Abby was a BJC Home Care nurse at the time and knew of the hospital’s strong reputation for caring for mothers and their babies, a priority that has since earned Missouri Baptist an Advanced Certification in Perinatal Care (ACPC) from The Joint Commission.  

The hospital’s newborn intensive care unit (NICU) is staffed by WashU Medicine and St. Louis Children’s Hospital neonatologists and pediatricians and approved by the American Academy of Pediatrics and the National Association of Neonatal Nurses to care for premature babies as young as 28 weeks gestation. That level of care brought peace of mind when Abby’s daughter, Molly, arrived earlier than expected, at 36 weeks gestation.

“The Labor and Delivery team here at Missouri Baptist was absolutely incredible,” Abby says. “I had to have an emergency cesarean section. Fortunately, Molly was healthy and didn’t need to spend time in the NICU, but just knowing it was there if we needed it was comforting.”

About three years later, the family again turned to Missouri Baptist in a time of need, when Dan began experiencing elevated blood pressure and arrhythmia, or irregular heartbeat.

Stuart Higano, MD, a BJC Medical Group cardiologist at Missouri Baptist, scheduled Dan for a cardiac catheterization, a minimally invasive procedure used to diagnose heart conditions. Dan, who was 34 at the time, hoped the procedure would rule out serious complications. Instead, it revealed life-threatening ones.  

Dan’s care team discovered severe blockages in four arteries. He was immediately scheduled for emergency surgery. Michael Mauney, MD, a cardiothoracic surgeon at Missouri Baptist Medical Center, performed a quadruple bypass to restore blood flow to Dan’s heart.8 

Once again, the family knew they were in great hands. Missouri Baptist’s Heart Center provides comprehensive cardiac care, with experienced cardiologists treating conditions including heart attack, arrhythmia, heart failure, and valve disease. The program is nationally recognized for cardiac surgery outcomes, including coronary bypass and valve procedures. But it wasn’t just the quality of care that stood out. The compassion on display throughout the hospital made a big difference.

Abby recalls one moment vividly. Before the quadruple bypass surgery, Dr. Mauney sat down with Dan and Abby and talked through their fears and questions. He did not rush. He stayed until the room felt calmer.

“He found a way to connect with a worried young father and husband,” Abby says. “That mattered.”

If you are preparing for a stay with Missouri Baptist, learn more about what to expect.  

Dan’s surgery and recovery were successful. Each year, the family marks the anniversary of the surgery with a trip, a way to reflect and celebrate.

In late 2025, when Missouri Baptist was searching for a patient experience manager, the opportunity felt like a sign for Abby. She pursued the job and began her new role at the beginning of 2026.

“I wanted to give back to the place that cared for my family,” she says. “It was an easy decision.”

Abby’s role includes both management and operational duties. The hospital’s concierges who welcome patients at hospital entry points and help them before and after surgery report to her. She also leads patient experience initiatives across the hospital, consults with the hospital’s patient advisory council, and monitors patient feedback delivered through quality scores and comments.

Daily, Abby relies on her family’s experience at Missouri Baptist to help guide her work. One example is an ongoing project that will update certain surgical waiting rooms with digital tracking boards, so family members receive real-time updates as their loved ones undergo extensive surgeries. The idea was prompted by her memory of waiting on phone-call updates in the waiting room during Dan’s heart surgery.

“Every patient who comes to Missouri Baptist, their family members, and all of our care providers should be grateful to know that Abby and her husband were patients here,” Dr. Mauney says. “As such, Abby is uniquely positioned to drive efforts that recognize and improve timely and accurate communication with patients. Compassion, empathy, and creating a welcoming environment help our patients navigate both the expected and unexpected medical journeys we all experience in life.”

Walking the halls of Missouri Baptist today, Abby often sees members of the care teams who helped her daughter and husband. Those warm interactions inspire her to remember the perspective she’s committed to prioritizing.

“We bring empathy and understanding when people walk through our doors,” she says. “What I experienced here as a patient guides me every day.”

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