​Memorial Hospital offers speech therapy for the evaluation and treatment of speech and language impairments such as:

Swallowing disorders

Memorial provides videofluoroscopy evaluation of swallowing, and neuromuscular electrical stimulation (VitalStim®) is available for the treatment of dysphagia (difficulty swallowing) and oro-motor weakness.

The VitalStim® unit can improve airway protection during swallowing and facilitates improved pharyngeal clearance of materials after the swallow. It is also effective in treating facial droop.

Speech pathologists at Memorial Hospital are also trained to evaluate swallowing function through use of a Modified Barium Swallow Study and through use of the Flexible Endoscopic Evaluation of Swallow or FEES testing. Memorial Hospital is the only hospital in the Metro East to offer FEES evaluation.

Clinical and research evidence agree that patients with aphasia benefit from the services of speech/language pathologists. Our speech/language pathologists assess communication impairments and develop a treatment program to assist with the goal of helping patients with aphasia to regain as much of their communication skills as possible. We develop communication strategies to help the patient compensate for language deficits that remain. Education and counseling regarding aphasia, and how to promote continued gains in language skills, is provided to patients and family members.

The Lee Silverman Voice Treatment (LSVT®) program is available for patients with Parkinson’s disease. We also provide treatment for a variety of voice disorders, such as vocal nodules, polyps, vocal cord paralysis, and muscle tension dysphonia.

Treatment is available for deficits in attention, short-term memory, abstract reasoning and problem solving, and executive function for a variety of diagnoses. All aspects of higher-level language skills (e.g. auditory processing, comprehension, and pragmatics) can be evaluated and treated.

Oro-motor weakness, inefficient breath support for speech, resonance problems, and articulation disorders can be treated to improve speech intelligibility.

Speech/language pathologists can provide systematic reduction or modification of speech characteristics that interfere with intelligibility.

Additional treatments: 

The team of speech pathologists at Memorial Hospital are able to assess and diagnose difficulties in speech/language, cognition and swallowing  in people of all ages with the following diagnoses:

For more information about the Speech Therapy services offered at Memorial, call (618) 257-5255.