Jane Drummond became the director of the Department of Health & Senior Services (DHSS) in November of 2006.  Appointed by Governor Blunt, Jane first acted as General Council with the Blunt Administration but was asked to lead DHSS after Julie Eckstein left the department.   Her previous experience includes working as an attorney in private practice with the firm Husch Blackwell, which represents nursing homes across the state.
 
Based on her legal experience, Jane says she knew a lot about the regulatory side of nursing homes and hospitals coming in to DHSS, but had to dive right in to learn about the EMS and Public Health side.

The Missouri Time Critical Diagnosis Task Force held its second meeting on Thursday, January 31, at the governor’s office building in Jefferson City to continue its development of a statewide emergency response system for victims of stroke and ST-Segment Elevation Myocardial Infarction (STEMI). The task force will serve from January through June of 2008 to finalize the guiding principles and advise DHSS on a consensus plan to create a functional system.

For three years, the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services has been working on a plan to establish a Time Critical Diagnosis (TCD) System in the state of Missouri to improve health outcomes for Missourians who have a stroke or ST-elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI).  The program will use knowledge gained from Missouri’s trauma care system and will improve the timely diagnosis and care of those who have one of these two conditions.
 
While Missouri’s heart disease and stroke death rates are declining, the leading cause of death in this state remains heart disease and stroke ranks third.  Acute ischemic stroke and STEMI contribute to this high death rate.