Quick Facts

QUICK FACTS about the Speech-Language Pathology Department at Munroe-Meyer Institute

Mission

To provide exceptional, family-centered services for the evaluation and treatment of speech, language, voice, cognitive and swallowing disorders of patients of all ages seen through multidisciplinary clinics, outpatient facilities, & those who are hospitalized at Nebraska Medicine, develop the next generation of the highly skilled practitioners and develop a research foundation to lead trends in clinical practice.

History

• Speech-language pathology (SLP) began at MMI on June 1^st, 1959.
• The Scottish Rite RiteCare Clinic began in 1976 as the Scottish Rite Childhood Aphasia Program in Lincoln, NE. MMI took over administration of the RiteCare Clinics in 1979 & it became the Scottish Rite Parent-Child Language Program.
• Started ongoing speech-language conferences ~1979, which developed into the annual AAC conference.
• Began offering clinical services in the hospital ~1986.
• Added augmentative & alternative communication (AAC) services and joined the pediatric swallowing team ~1988.
• AAC Preschool started in 1993.

Organization

• 28 SLPs
• Supported 4 RiteCare Clinics across Nebraska: Omaha, Lincoln, Hastings, and Kearney
• Provided services through RiteCare, outpatient therapy, integrated services within MMI behavioral programs, inpatient services at Nebraska Medicine (NM), NM multidisciplinary clinics, & AAC services through Omaha Public Schools (OPS)

Clinical Services

• Served over 1,300 patients at MMI and our off-site clinics
• Provided services to more than 3,600 inpatients within NM, including adult & pediatric units & the NICU
• Provided approximately 7,000 clinical sessions at MMI and 15,500 at Nebraska Medicine
• Served 8 patients via telehealth from Omaha, NE to Broken Bow, NE
• Provided 7 types of services: Speech, Language, Voice, Swallowing, Cognition, AAC, and Parent Training
• Supported 29 different OPS schools last year
• Provided 6 AAC preschool sessions each week
• Supported 4 contracts: Scottish Rite RiteCare Clinics, Nebraska Medicine, OPS AAC services, Head & Neck Cancer Clinic
• Provided services to 6 multidisciplinary clinics: Autism Diagnostic Clinic (ADC), ALS Clinic, Concussion Clinic, Parkinson’s Clinic, Parkinson’s Plus Clinic, and Head and Neck Cancer Clinic
• Provided 2 highly specialized instrumental swallowing exams: Modified Barium Swallow Studies (MBS) & Fiberoptic Endoscopic Evaluation of the Swallow (FEES)
• Developed new AAC in the ICU (Intensive Care Unit) clinical service to patients to allow high-tech communication tools to patients who are intubated in the ICU to improve patient-provider communication
• Offered the Pacifier Activated Lullaby and NTrainer therapies in the NICU

Education and Research Activities

• Hired Dr. Jessica Gormley, who specializes in AAC with children, as an additional faculty member in the department
• Two SLP Development Grants were awarded to Beth Hughes and Erin Brandenburg for “AAC Let’s Talk Summer Camp” and Carol Gaebler and Alli Krase for “Memory Boot Camp”
• Organized the 2019 annual AAC Conference, featuring Dr. Katherine Hustad from the University of Wisconsin-Madison
• Hosted Simona Daniute, PhD Student in the Department of Special Education at Šiauliai University in Šiauliai, Lithuania
• Trained 4 SLP Graduate Students in their final semester long hospital externship
• Trained 33 additional graduate SLP students per year in pre-externship placements including: ADC, AAC Preschool in Omaha and Lincoln, ALS Clinic, Hanen Parent Training Program, Project ImPACT, NICU, Concussion Clinic
• Provided ongoing guest lectures in undergraduate and graduate speech-language pathology courses at 4 universities: UNMC, UNO, College of St. Mary, Creighton University
• Provided 18 local presentations, 19 university guest lectures, 9 state-wide presentations, and 2 national presentations
• Led a TheraChat education group 1x/month
• Provided ongoing clinical observations to undergraduate SLP students
• Participated in training ~10 high school students each year through the High School Alliance
• Engage in ongoing research studies related to AAC, ALS, pediatric swallowing, learning styles and preferences of AAC facilitators, and acute management of swallowing in patients undergoing with oral cancer of the tongue

Contact 402-559-6460

Alli Krase, MS, CCC-SLP – Associate Director, Speech-Language Pathology Department
Email Alli Krase