The University of Kansas Health System in Great Bend is pleased to have Emma Biltoft, CCC-SLP, certified speech and language therapist, join its speech language pathology team. She provides speech and language therapy mainly for adults, while Katie Patterson, CCC-SLP, provides speech language services mainly for children. Biltoft and Patterson also provide speech and language therapy for hospitalized patients at the Great Bend Campus.
Biltoft provides services for adults with swallowing difficulties, cognitive-communication disorders related to dementia, stroke, traumatic brain injury and other conditions, and motor-speech disorders. Patterson provides speech, language and swallowing services that include pediatric therapy for language delays or disorders, autism spectrum disorders and speech-sound disorders among other services.
“I love the flexibility that speech language pathology gives you,” Biltoft said. “You can work across the whole lifespan, birth to 100-plus. We’re there to help you any way we can.”
Speech language pathology is the study, evaluation and treatment of communication and swallowing disorders in children and adults. The addition of a second speech and language pathologist to the team means children and adults in the community will be able to receive more specialized care close to home.
“We’re continuing to develop the program and meet community needs by providing the most up-to-date, evidence-based practice,” Patterson said. “Our department is always seeking to expand and enhance services. We’re passionate about community and outreach to ensure people have access to and knowledge about the services we offer.”
Biltoft earned her bachelor’s degree in communication sciences and disorders and master’s degree in speech-language pathology from Fort Hays State University. She also has a certificate of clinical competence in speech-language pathology.
Speech and language pathology services are available at 3715 6th St. in Great Bend. For appointments, call 620-791-6270. All speech language pathology services require a referral from a primary care provider.
