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Since June 2007, the St. Joseph’s Swallowing Clinic was created at St. Joseph’s Healthcare Hamilton, which is affiliated with McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario Canada. This is a unique multidisciplinary clinic dedicated to understanding the causes of Dysphagia.

 

The clinic is conducted jointly by an internist and gastroenterologist and a speech-language-pathologist, located in the department of Communication Disorders at St. Joseph’s Healthcare Hamilton.

 

Our goal is to identify the cause of a swallowing problem and to restore swallowing function to a level as normal as possible in order to improve quality of life and nutrition. Our mission also includes clinical research and education for patients, families, and health care professionals.

 

Using a step wise approach, adult out-patients are initially triaged by a specialist in internal medicine and gastroenterology and a dedicated speech-language pathologist.

 

Once the first assessment has been done, the patient is redirected to a specific investigational stream as per Dysphagia-related symptoms, past medical history and studies performed. Therefore a multidisciplinary consultations system is in place, coordinated by a physician coordinator who has access to fast referral consultations and complementary diagnostic tools, becoming then a model for a “fast assessment unit” for swallowing disorders.

 

Hence the team of physicians, speech-language-pathologists, radiologists and dietitians involved focus their expertise on diagnosing and treating the specific causes of swallowing disorders.

Assistant Professor of Medicine
Internal Medicine and Gastroenterology

McMaster University

Anthony Wood M.Sc., CASLPO, CCC-SLP
Speech Language Pathologist
Specialist in Voice and Swallowing Disorders
St. Joseph's Healthcare Hamilton

Karen Tupper MRT
Radiology Technologist
Department of Diagnostic Imaging
St. Joseph's Healthcare Hamilton