Speech Therapy

The Speech-Language Pathology Department at Medical Center Hospital is a team of 5 speech-language pathologists who provide services while patients are in the hospital and after they go home. MCH Speech-Language Pathologists treat communication, voice, cognitive, speech, and swallowing disorders for a variety of populations including infants, children, adult, and geriatric patients with a diagnosis of traumatic brain injury, stroke, aneurysm, spinal cord injury, neuromuscular disease, degenerative disease, laryngectomy, head/neck cancer, tracheostomy, and individuals who are ventilator dependent.

Testing and treatment performed by our speech therapists include:

• Modified Barium Swallow (MBS) studies to evaluate swallowing in infants, children, and adults
• Evaluation and treatment of patients who have lost their voice due to cancer with laryngectomy
• Swallowing treatment with neuromuscular electrical stimulation
• Evaluation and treatment for speech generating devices due to loss of speech and language after stroke
• Evaluation and treatment of feeding difficulty in infants and children
• Evaluation and treatment of communication in patients with a tracheostomy using Passy-Muir speaking valves
• Evaluation and treatment of voice with the use of videostroboscopy
• Evaluation and treatment of cognitive and communication disorders in adults and adolescents

The therapists work with patients at all levels of care from general admission to patients in intensive care units. The therapists at Medical Center Hospital collaborate with other Speech-Language Pathologists in the Permian Basin to coordinate services in rehabilitation and skilled nursing units, home health, and outpatient clinics to ensure a smooth transition for patients after leaving the hospital setting.

For information about the Speech-Language Pathology division at MCH Health System, contact the Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation Department at (432) 640-1230.