Whitefish Center

Skilled Nursing Facility

A skilled nursing facility is a facility or distinct part of an institution whose primary function is to provide medical, continuous nursing, and other health and social services to patients who are not in an acute phase of illness requiring services in a hospital, but who require primary restorative or skilled nursing services on an inpatient basis above the level of intermediate or custodial care in order to reach a degree of body functioning to permit self care in essential daily living. It meets any licensing or certification standards et forth by the jurisdiction where it is located. A skilled nursing facility may be a freestanding facility or part of a hospital that has been certified by Medicare to admit patients requiring subacute care and rehabilitation; (2) Provides non-acute medical and skilled nursing care services, therapy and social services under the supervision of a licensed registered nurse on a 24-hour basis.

Speech-Language Pathology

Whitefish Center is a Speech-Language Pathology practice in Whitefish, MT with healthcare providers who have special training and skill in preventing, assessing, diagnosing, and treating speech, language, cognitive communication, and swallowing disorders arising from illness, injury, deficiency, or congenital birth defect. Speech-Language Pathologists at Whitefish Center perform testing, evaluation, and treatment of disorders relating to how patients form words, communicate, and process the speech of others. Speech-Language Pathology is a medical specialty that deals with disorders related to how patients form words, speak, and understand what others are saying to them. Significant diseases and conditions treated at Speech-Language Pathology practices include speech disorders like stuttering and dysarthia, language disorders like articulation and phonological processing disorders, social communication disorders, cognitive-communication disorders, voice disorders, and swallowing disorders that may arise from conditions like stroke, dementia, brain injury, multiple sclerosis (MS), Parkinson's disease, autism, hearing loss, or congenital birth defects. Medical tests, procedures and therapies provided by Speech-Language Pathology practices include speech and language assessment, hearing assessment, developing treatment plans based on assessment and test results, developing communications strategies for patients and caregivers, working with patients to achieve communication goals, and providing patient and parent education.

The speech-language pathologist is the professional who engages in clinical services, prevention, advocacy, education, administration, and research in the areas of communication and swallowing across the life span from infancy through geriatrics. Speech-language pathologists address typical and atypical impairments and disorders related to communication and swallowing in the areas of speech sound production, resonance, voice, fluency, language (comprehension and expression), cognition, and feeding and swallowing.