The STIRR Mission

The mission of the STI Regional Response Coalition (STIRR) is to promote healthy sexual behaviors and reduce the incidence of STIs in the St. Louis community through education, collaboration and evidence-based practice.

Our Values

• Address STI care through prevention, testing, and treatment

• Respect human dignity and differences

• Foster innovative thinking

• Provide practical recommendations

About Us

For many years, the per capita rates of sexually transmitted infections (STIs) in the St. Louis region have been some of the highest in the United States.  Medical care delivery for STIs in the St. Louis region is integrated with both routine and emergency healthcare.  Thus, improving the care of patients with STIs requires a collaborative effort from such systems as public health departments, universities, primary care systems, and emergency rooms to address this multi-faceted health issue.

To this effort, faculty in the Division of Infectious Disease and the Institute for Public Health at Washington University along with key stakeholders, organized the formation of the St. Louis STI Regional Response Coalition (STIRR). Founded in early 2015, STIRR’s main goal is to respond to the continuing high rates of STIs in the St. Louis region.  STIRR is largely a provider-led coalition. Nearly 50 attendees from a variety of agencies are participating in STIRR, including: state, city, and county health departments; academic medical centers; hospital emergency departments; urgent care centers; community health centers (aka FQHCs); community-based organizations; and private providers. Members identified a provisional goal of working towards a regional management plan for STIs in the St. Louis area by using evidence-based medicine, expert opinion, and national guidelines. 

The STIRR membership represents true regional collaboration.  Through STIRR, the hope is to identify gaps in testing, treatment, and follow up care that will be improved, in part, with educational events.