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by Gerry Le
Public Relations
North Charleston's 4480
Leeds Place West is now home to MUSC's
Children's Rehabilitation Service Center,
Sleep Center and Wheelchair Seating and
Mobility Clinic. The facility, which was
created to be a one-stop shop for families
to receive therapeutic services, opened
Oct. 17.
 Speech language
pathologist Jenny Tate works with Jaden
Wright to improve his communication
skills while he plays with a toy house
at the Children's Rehabilitation Service
Center in North Charleston.
Rehabilitation
Service Center
MUSC's Children's Rehabilitation Service
Center offers a variety of services for
pediatric patients and their families in
the North Charleston area.
This new facility
offers occupational and physical therapy,
and speech and language pathology, giving
patients the ability to improve motor
skills, balance, communication, and
feeding and sensory processing skills. The
clinic uses an interdisciplinary approach
that develops lifelong learning skills for
pediatric patients.
The collaborative care
that patients will receive from this
location comes from a staff of five
physical therapists, five occupational
therapists and six speech-language
pathologists. These therapists have had
advanced and specialized training in
pediatric disorders.
"The therapists are
exemplary as they demonstrate great
compassion and dedication to improving
their patients' abilities to interact with
their environment," said Diane Andrews,
the center's manager. "I am truly inspired
when I see children learning to walk, eat
meals, communicate and use their new motor
skills to play with toys for the very
first time."
Sleep Center
MUSC's North Charleston location Sleep
Center provides patients the same quality
care as the original location at the
downtown campus. The 12 sleep-study
technologists are trained in specialized
care for treatment of adult and pediatric
sleep disorders, such as sleep-disordered
breathing and sleep apnea. The center
diagnoses patients through sleep studies
that monitor EEG, heart rate, breathing,
oxygen levels and leg movement.
"The new location
removes the pressures of being in a
hospital setting and allows us to care for
our patients in a comfortable and relaxed
environment," said Amanda McGarrigle,
Sleep Center manager. "I'm excited to
bring our services into the community, and
our patients couldn't be happier."
Wheelchair, Mobility
Clinic
The Wheelchair Seating and Mobility Clinic
serves both adult and pediatric patients.
The team consists of assistive technology
providers who offer patients custom
wheelchairs.
 Ervin Clark
began seeing physical therapist Jill
Monger in 1991 for regular wheelchair
tune-ups.
North Charleston
patient Ervin Clark has been coming to the
clinic since 1991. He started seeing
physical therapist Jill Monger for
treatment and later received regular
support with wheelchair tune-ups or
technology evaluations about every five
years. As a teen, Clark was injured doing
back flips on home mattresses. The
accident left him a quadriplegic.
Today, Monger and
colleague Sarah Kraft, DPT, are part of a
team of specialists who provides care to
children and adults, especially elderly
patients who are diagnosed with spinal
cord injuries or mobility impairments
including cerebral palsy, multiple
sclerosis and amyotrophic lateral
sclerosis or Lou Gehrig's disease.
"The new facility was
large enough that we were able to
incorporate our wheelchair clinic and
sleep lab into the plans," said Sally
Potts, R.N., director of therapeutic and
professional services. "Vendors and
specialized physical therapists work with
patients to ensure wheelchairs are custom
fit to our patients."
The Wheelchair Seating
Clinic allows patients to regain
independence. The new ability to navigate
and explore an environment directly
impacts a patient's life, allowing for
mobility and independence that wasn't
attainable before. The Wheelchair Clinic
is operated on an outpatient basis.
All three clinics are
open from 8 a.m. until 6 p.m., Monday
through Friday. For more information, call
876-7200.
Friday, Dec.
21, 2012
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