Yakima / Washington / United States
The Yakima Hearing and Speech Center ( HSC ), Inc. a not for profit community agency, was established by the Yakima Rotary Club in 1971. Prior to this families of children with communication and hearing impairments had to travel to Seattle for evaluation and treatment services. During 1970 a parent group, the Yakima Hearing League, was formed to explore the establishment of services in this community. The League approached the Rotary Club of Yakima and working together the groups determined the need and resources required to provide communication services in our community. Following a year of planning the Yakima Hearing and Speech Center was established. The Rotary Club provided financial support to the Preschool Deaf Program provided by the Center until 1985. Since that time the Center has supported the Preschool Deaf Program with revenue over expenses from our services and United Way contributions. The staff of Center has grown from four in 1971 to 23 in 2009. The Center employs 12 speech language pathologists, four audiologists, two educators of the deaf, and five office staff. We work in a diversity of settings including Yakima Memorial and Regional hospitals, nursing homes, home health care settings, Yakima Valley School, Childrens Village, and of course within the setting of the Center itself. Services provided encompass pediatric through geriatric health care needs. We address speech and language delay, neurological impairments of communication, traumatic brain injury, dysphagia, feeding impairments, voice disorders, and hearing impairment. Our projected budget for the calendar year 2009 predicts revenue over expenses of $16, 000.00. Within the mission of the Hearing and Speech Center we are committed to understanding the needs of our patients and their families and then providing a service that best achieves our mutual goals. We are trustworthy, ethical, honest, and accountable for our actions. Excellence is our expectation. We continually improve and seek to be the best.
