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HRH Provider Honors

Congratulations to Dave Cravotta, M.S., CCC-SLP, on being named an IBJ Healthcare Heroes Honoree!

Since joining HRH in 2010, Cravotta has developed new speech protocols, programs and support groups. Cravotta helped found the Acquired Brain Injury Survivor Group for survivors and caretakers of those who have suffered from traumatic brain injury or stroke. Cravotta was integral in bringing the Fiberoptic Endoscopic Evaluation of Swalloping (FEES) procedure to the Hendricks Regional Health head and neck continuum of care. He was instrumental in bringing Videostroboscopy to the hospital, and helped established the Frazier Water Protocol and Yale Swallow Protocol. He also brought the LSVT LOUD® and SpeechVive programs to HRH to help treat voice problems for patients with Parkinson’s Disease.

Cravotta and Sports Medicine Doctor David Harsha have partnered on voice screenings for DePauw University vocal performance students and a new Vocal Cord Dysfunction clinic to diagnose and treat a condition common in young athletes in which the vocal cords paradoxically close during exercise. Cravotta is also the primary SLP treating patients with concussions when referred from Sports Medicine.

This past year, Cravotta spearheaded an innovative dual study for a patient with throat cancer experiencing severe swallowing problems. He organized a multi-disciplinary team to perform a SimulStudy (more than one study conducted simultaneously) of FEES and VFSS (Video Fluoroscopic Swallow Study) to obtain a detailed look at the patient’s throat and swallowing. Very few of these SimulStudies have occurred anywhere in the United States, and this study was the first of its kind at HRH. The study was considered a success in that it revealed a great deal of information about the patient’s problem and, most importantly, helped to establish a plan of care to assist the patient with a return to eating and drinking foods and beverages the patient enjoys.		  

  HRH Director of Immediate Care Centers Marijane Smallwood received a Patriot Award from the Employer Support of the Guard and Reserve (ESGR), an agency of the U.S. Department of Defense.

Smallwood was nominated by SFC Matthew Spears, husband of HRH Radiation Technician Wendy Spears. The family is preparing for SFC Spears‘ upcoming deployment. As parents of a young girl, they were concerned that Wendy’s 12-hour work days would not work well for single parenting. When Wendy mentioned her concerns and asked if anything could be done, Smallwood and the team stepped up to switch Wendy’s hours that allow her to be home for their daughter in Matthew's absence.

In his nomination, SFC Spears wrote “Words will never express my gratitude for her swift actions and the care and compassion of the other employees to my family.”
           
Smallwood stresses that she received the award on behalf of the entire team at the Avon Immediate Care office. “This is something we try to do for all of our employees. We do things together as a team. It’s just part of the extended family, so you want to treat them the way you would want to be treated.”