Meet Jan
A native of St. Louis, Missouri, Jan Polizzi was raised to believe that faith, family and giving back to the community are priorities. Her parents were active with scouting, American Red Cross, Moolah Shrine, Eastern Star, and Daughters and Sons of the Revolution.
Jan graduated from public schools and received her Master’s Degree in Nursing from Southern Illinois University-Edwardsville. After practicing in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit at Cardinal Glennon Hospital, she redirected her health career focus to primary care and prevention to avoid admissions to expensive and invasive hospitalization of newborns and access to care for high risk populations. She was the first nurse elected to the Missouri House of Representatives in 1992 and served as Vice-Chair of Public Health and Safety. She fought for Medicaid Expansion and improved Family Planning funding that resulted in a drop in teen pregnancy, sexually transmitted diseases and improved infant mortality. Her input was critical in the wording of definition of accident, illness and injury for workmen’s compensation reform. She served one term on the Board of Education in the Mehlville School District. She has served four terms as President of Third District Missouri Nurses Association and Delegate to the American Nurses Association and Center for American Nurses. She is currently on the Executive Board of the Teen Pregnancy Prevention Project.
As a practicing Community Health Nurse, she is employed by faith-based initiative Nurses for Newborns Foundation and targets high-risk pregnancies and infants. Nurses for Newborns Foundation has significantly lower than state and national averages for child abuse and neglect, infant mortality, and repeat teen pregnancy. She bases her practice that every $1.00 invested in public health reaps $3.00 in savings. Her caseload changed to include many families impacted by loss of jobs and insurance and she is keenly aware of the impacts of the economy on quality family life and health outcomes. Her position is funded by two grants “Healthy Hearts and Homes” which seeks to reinforce parenting and relationship skills for couples. This is a demonstration project that includes the St. Louis Healthy Marriage Coalition and Father’s Support Center. The remainder of her caseload is funded by a state grant Alternatives to Abortion that seeks to assist mothers with unplanned pregnancies.
Jan and her husband Pete Polizzi have been married for 38 years and have one son Joe a graduate of Southeast Missouri State University. She saw tuition rise yearly and many of his associates had to drop out due to expenses. Jan fears higher education is being squeezed away from the middle class.
Now running again for State Representative, Jan has the experience and integrity to return health care access and improved outcomes for Missourians.
Jan is committed to restoring health care cuts, expanding access to primary and preventive health care, make college more affordable and return good paying jobs to Missouri.