Denise Margaret Karl, PT, BS
Lead, Acute Care
Denise is a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania with a B.S. in Physical Therapy. She has been employed with Chester County Hospital since 1988 and is currently the Lead Therapist in the Acute Care Physical Therapy Department. Denise was very involved with the development and implementation of the orthopaedic services offered at the Hospital as well as the Soarian project, an electronic documentation process developed in partnership with Siemens. She is a member of the discharge planning committee and the JCAHO taskforce.
Lisa Crisanti, OT, BS
Lead, Acute Occupational Therapy
Lisa graduated from West Chester University with a B.A. in English Literature. She worked in magazine publishing before returning to Thomas Jefferson University to earn a Post Baccalaureate Certificate in Occupational Therapy in 1994. She has been employed with Chester County Hospital since 1997 as Lead Therapist in the Transitional Care Unit and is currently the Lead Therapist in the Occupational Therapy Acute Care Department. Lisa is a member of the Skin Integrity Task Force and has assisted with the development of the Hospital's orthopaedic service line as well as the Soarian project, an electronic documentation process developed in partnership with Siemens.
Beth Balmer-Pickerd, MS, CCC/SLP-L
Lead, Speech Pathology
Beth graduated from Indiana University of Pennsylvania with a master's degree in Speech-Language Pathology. She is an active member of the nutrition care committee, forms development team, as well as being involved in the training and transition to Soarian. Areas of interest include the evaluation and treatment of adults with swallowing and/or communication disorders as well as mentoring student clinicians. She has furthered her training in interpretation of videofluoroscopic swallowing studies and is a member of the American Speech, Language, and Hearing Association.
Susannah Jenks, PT, MS
Lead Weekend Therapist
Susannah graduated from the University of Maine with a B.S. in Business Administration / Marketing. She received her Master’s degree in Physical Therapy from Widener University in 1998. She started working for Chester County Hospital at our out-patient facilities from 1998 – 2005. She has worked in the inpatient acute care department since 2007 and is currently the Lead Physical Therapist for the Weekend Therapy Program – WIN.
Stefanie Steinberger, PT, DPT
Lead, NICU
A member of Chester County Hospital's staff since 2004, Stefanie has over 17 years of experience in the field of Physical Therapy and has specialized in the field of Neonatal and Developmental Physical Therapy since 2002. She received her masters and doctorate degrees in Physical Therapy from Temple University. Stefanie is certified as a Neonatal Touch and Massage Therapist since 2015. She is the lead NICU PT and also the coordinator of the Developmental Follow Up Clinic for NICU graduates. Stefanie is an active member of NANT, the National Association of Neonatal Therapists. She routinely trains Neonatal and Pediatric staff nurses about the latest techniques in developmental care for neonates and infants. She is active in creating policies to improve the NICU environment for developing preemies. She also is the chair of the Developmental Care Committee, which furthers developmental care for our littlest patients here at Chester County Hospital.
Lauren Dunbar, MA
Lauren received her undergraduate degree from Indiana University of Pennsylvania with a Bachelor in Arts in Speech Pathology and obtained her Master of Arts in Speech Pathology from West Chester University. Lauren has been a member of the Chester County Hospital team since 2005. Her areas of interest include evaluation and treatment of adults with communication and swallowing disorders and she has advanced training in video fluoroscopy swallow studies. She is a member of the American Speech and Hearing Association.
Stacy Firely, M.A., CCC-SLP - Acute Care Speech Therapists
Speech-Language Pathologist
Stacy received her B.S. in Communicative Disorders from East Stroudsburg University and obtained her Master of Speech and Hearing Science from West Chester University in 2009. She holds a Certificate of Clinical Competence and is a member of the American Speech-Language and Hearing Association (ASHA). Stacy has worked in various settings including early intervention, skilled nursing, acute care, and long-term acute care (LTACH) since graduation. She has been with Chester County Hospital’s inpatient acute care team since 2011 and works in the adult, pediatric and NICU units. In the adult unit, she provides evaluation and treatment for patients with speech, language, and swallowing disorders. In the pediatric and NICU units, she provides assessments and treatment for babies with difficulty feeding. Stacy is trained to complete Video Fluoroscopic Swallow Studies, Fiberoptic Endoscopic Evaluation of Swallow (FEES) studies and is Certified in Tracheoesophageal Puncture placement and changes.
Priscilla Jordan, MSOT, BA Sociology
Priscilla graduated from University of Massachusetts, Amherst with a BA in Sociology. She worked as an activities therapist in a psychiatric hospital for children in Massachusetts where she was introduced to the field of Occupational Therapy. She returned to graduate school to pursue her Master of Science in Occupational Therapy from Tufts University in Medford, Massachusetts in 1996. She began her occupational therapy career at the Wilmington Hospital Center for Rehabilitation and worked there in acute rehabilitation, acute care and outpatient brain injury for 15 years. She has experience working as an Occupational Therapist in the education system, sub-acute rehab and long term acute care (LTACH). She began working at County Hospital per diem in October 2016 and transitioned to full time in May 2018.
Matthew Leocha, PT, DPT, NTMTC II
Matt has been a member of the physical therapy team at Chester County Hospital since 2014. He graduated from West Chester University in 2007 with a B.S. in Biology and received his doctorate in Physical Therapy from Temple University in 2011. Matt has experience in various fields within acute care, but has worked primarily in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) and pediatric departments. He is a certified Neonatal Touch and Massage therapist and is an active member of NANT, the National Association of Neonatal Therapists. Matt enjoys working with infants and families at Chester County Hospital and seeks to provide a nurturing environment conducive to growth and development, and parental bonding. He hopes to continue his specialization within the neonatal field and obtain a National Neonatal Therapy Certification.
Katlin Moyer, MA, CCC-SLP/L
Outpatient Speech Therapy & Acute Care Speech
Katlin is a Pennsylvania-licensed Speech-Language Pathologist and a member of the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA). She earned her Master of Arts in Communication Sciences & Disorders from Edinboro University in 2012, as well as a Bachelor of Science in Audiology & Speech-Language Pathology from Bloomsburg University in 2010. Katlin has worked in a variety of settings including outpatient, acute care, inpatient and outpatient acute rehabilitation, long-term care, and assisted living. In these settings she has experience evaluating and treating adults with speech/language, voice, cognition, and swallowing disorders. Katlin joined the Chester County Hospital team in 2021 and is currently providing services in the acute care setting as well as outpatient rehabilitation at the Fern Hill campus.
Christine Pettit, PTA
Christine has been a member of the team since 2001. Christine earned her Associate of Science as a Physical Therapy Assistant from Harcum College. She later furthered her education at West Chester University where she earned her Bachelor of Science in Health Science. Christine has worked in many of the units in the hospital. Most recently she has been seeing patients on Lasko Tower 3. She provides physical therapy care to many of the orthopaedic patients, which include total hip and total knee replacements, spine surgery and shoulder surgery. Christine is also a member of the Falls Committee, which is a multidisciplinary team that works to improve patient safety and decrease patient falls throughout the Hospital.
Melinda Renaldo, PTA
Mindy has been a member of Chester County Hospital's Department of Physical Therapy, Rehabilitation and Sports Medicine since 1998. She began in the Transitional Care Unit, assisted in various outpatient settings as needed and is currently in the Acute Care Department. Mindy has treated patients on all units within the hospital, including orthopaedics, cardiovascular and intensive care patients. She was an All-American gymnast at Temple University and graduated with a degree in Exercise Physiology and a minor in Health Sciences. She received her Physical Therapy Assistant degree from Alvernia College. Mindy also coaches gymnastics at the West Chester YMCA.
Ashley Terlingo, MA, CCC-SLP
Speech Language Pathologist
Ashley has been a part of the Chester County Hospital family since 2003 and has worked with the rehab team since 2013. Ashley graduated from Temple University with a Master of Arts degree in Speech, Language and Hearing Science. She holds a Certificate of Clinical Competence and is a member of the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA). She provides evaluation and treatment for adults with swallowing and/or communication disorders. She enjoys working with student clinicians. She is trained to complete Video Fluoroscopic Swallow Studies and is MBSImP certified.