Staff Spotlight
Charlene Willerton, Speech Language Pathologist
Meet Charlene Willerton, Speech Language Pathologist (SLP) working at the Outpatient Swallowing Clinic at UBC Hospital. The clinic provides assessment, education and treatment for feeding and swallowing problems.
“Dysphagia, defined as difficulty swallowing, is not usually something people know about until it affects their life or their loved ones,” says Charlene. She enjoys helping her patients with dysphagia brainstorm and evaluate strategies to improve their quality of life.
In addition to providing recommendations, Charlene spends her days doing a variety of tasks including triaging new referrals, screening patients via telephone calls, running modified barium swallow tests, providing assessments and more.
One of the most exciting things about her job is when she can tell people they can swallow regular food again. “It is a big moment when many patients have had to adhere to the NPO guidelines, which refers to nothing my mouth, or have only consumed thickened fluids for a period of time. It is a joy to see their relief and happiness as they can participate and enjoy this social part of life again.”
Growth within Vancouver Coastal Health as a Speech Language Pathologist
Majority of Charlene’s early experience working as a SLP was in acute care. “I wanted to expand my experience to the outpatient world while simultaneously honing in on my dysphagia assessment, diagnosis and management skills. I also get to interact with other SLP programs across Vancouver as we navigate the best path for our patients.”
Charlene has worked a number of different sites through her career in both a regular position and casual position. “I have always felt well supported by my colleagues and Practice Leads. SLPs tend to be very helpful and encouraging people with a common goal: we all want to help our patients and each other offer the best care possible.”
Her sentiment perfectly aligns with the Vancouver Coastal Health values of we care for everyone, we are always learning and we strive for better results. Charlene says, “I always aim to give each of my patients the best care. In order to do so, I need to keep learning and adjusting my approach to reflect the current research. This takes time and effort but it is what we have to do to be better.”
In the last year, the clinic has grown from one SLP to three SLPs and one assistant, which is a huge progression for the department and for the SLP profession.
Join the team
Explore the current career opportunities for Speech Language Pathologists at Vancouver Coastal Health.