Who We Are

Our experienced providers are committed to a high standard of patient care and are here for you throughout every stage of your hearing journey.

All About Us

The Speech & Hearing Center is an integral resource to the community. Our best-in-class medical providers deliver much-needed services with top-of-the-line technology, competitive pricing and exceptional customer service.

We help children take their first steps. And speak their first words. We restore hearing to those who have been struggling to understand their loved ones for decades or more. And help to mitigate the significantly increased risk they face of health and safety issues, such as falls and dementia.

As a nonprofit, we ensure all individuals with speech or hearing impairments have access to the services and equipment they need, regardless of their ability to pay. But that doesn’t mean we don’t accept private pay and private insurance patients. These patients, as well as grants and donations, offset the costs of our mission work.

Patients who can afford services can feel good about their choice to support a long-standing community organization. A portion of every service or product purchased assists those in our community who would otherwise not be able to afford therapy or hearing devices.

  • Our Associations

  • nashc logo
  • american-speech-language-hearing-association logo
  • american-board-of-audiology logo

Meet Our Providers

Ava Mathis 1

Ava Mathis, MSOT, OTR/L

Occupational Therapist

Ava is passionate about helping children to thrive in daily life to enhance their overall wellbeing.

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Carla Wiksell 1

Carla Wiksell, M.A., CCC-SLP

Senior Speech-Language Pathologist

Carla, an employee of the Center since 1991, provides therapy services for patients of all ages and heads the Center’s screening program at area preschools.

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David Kuneman 1

David Kuneman, CAOHC

Industrial Hearing Technician

David is the Center's CAOHC-certified industrial hearing technician who travels to manufacturers around the region to help implement OSHA-compliant hearing conversation programs with our mobile hearing testing trailer.

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Dr. Gretchen Switzer, AU.D., CCC-A, CPS/A

Audiologist

Dr. Switzer treats patients with hearing loss from twinkles to wrinkles - from working with newborns to supporting older adults along their hearing journeys.

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Tara Yelliott

Dr. Tara Yelliott, PT, DPT

Physical Therapist

Tara has a strong patience for working with her pediatric patients outdoors and specializes in hippotherapy - a form of physical therapy that utilizes equine movement in her rehabilitative treatments.

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Jennifer Farner

Jennifer Farner

Lead Newborn Hearing Screener

Jennifer leads the newborn hearing screening team at Parkridge East Hospital to ensure all babies born are screened for hearing impairments before being discharged.

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Kate Engstrom

Kate Engstrom

Newborn Hearing Screener

Kate is a student at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, majoring in nursing, with hopes of one day becoming a pediatric nurse practitioner. She loves working with children, running and watching the beautiful Chattanooga sunsets!

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Crystal Collier 1

Crystal Collier

Newborn Hearing Screener

Crystal attended Southern Adventist University for college and currently works part time as an office manager at a physical therapy practice.

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Moriah Wright

Moriah Wright

Speech-Language Pathologist Assistant

As a speech-language pathology assistant, Moriah loves helping children learn and practice strategies to improve communication.

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Pam Burrows

Newborn Hearing Screening

Pam has over 30 years of experience with children and enjoys being able to continue her passion for the health and wellbeing of infants as a newborn hearing screener.

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Pam Hosterman 1

Pam Hosterman, M.S. CCC-SLP

Director Of Speech-Language Pathology

Pam leads the speech-language pathologists at the Center, where she has been employed since 1984.

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Becky Winkler 1

Rebecca Winkler, M.S., CCC-SLP

Speech-Language Pathologist

Becky is a bilingual speech-language pathologist who enjoys helping children of all ages improve their ability to communicate.

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Meet Our Office Team

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D.C. Dreger, ACFRE

Development Director

D.C. is excited to serve an underserved community in speech and hearing challenges – another way to give back to community. 

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Cori Cohen 1

Dr. Cori Cohen, BA, OTD, OTR/L

Clinic Supervisor

As clinic supervisor, Cori uses her experience as an occupational therapist to keep the clinic's medical delivery top notch.

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Evelyn Harmon 1

Evelyn Harmon, CAOHC

Industrial Hearing Manager

As the leader of the industrial hearing testing program, Evelyn utilizes her many years of customer service experience to assist current and prospective clients meet and comply with OSHA standards.

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Kristen Towery 1

Kristen Towery

Front Office Coordinator

Kristen is the first smiling face you see when you walk through the door.

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Lorena Cavanaugh

Lorena Cavanaugh

Community Outreach Coordinator

In her role as community outreach coordinator, Lorena is out and about, spreading the good word about the Center and its mission.

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Minnich Oakley

Minnich Oakley

Marketing Coordinator

Focused on the Center's marketing efforts, Minnich expands the Center’s reach throughout the area through targeted initiatives.

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Taylor Bostwick

Taylor Bostwick

President/CEO

Taylor is at the helm of the Speech & Hearing Center, ensuring day-to-day operations and long-view strategy meld together in harmonious execution.

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Meet Our Board

Jim Catanzaro Headshot

Jim Catanzaro

Chairman of the Board

Over nearly 30 years, Jim has built a robust law practice at Chambliss, Bahner & Stophel serving industry leaders in the health care, nonprofit and commercial business areas. He also has extensive experience serving in leadership positions with area nonprofits.

Marco Forato Headshot

Marco Forato

Vice Chairman

Marco Forato is the chief strategy officer for Unum Group, one of the world’s leading providers of workplace financial protection benefits. He is also a board member of the YMCA of Metropolitan Chattanooga’s Y-CAP program and The Enterprise Center.

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Shelly Killian

Treasurer

Shelly Killian is a senior vice president in commercial banking at First Horizon, where she has worked in a variety of roles since 2008. Her second child went through occupational and speech therapy, which is why she wholeheartedly supports the Center’s mission of ensuring every person has access to these vital services.

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Courtney Painter

Secretary

Courtney Painter in acute care at Parkridge Medical Center and specializes in adult dysphagia. She is also a certified neonatal therapist with a focus in swallowing disorders and feeding neonates in the NICU at Parkridge East Hospital. She is a member of the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association, Junior League of Chattanooga and National Association of Neonatal Therapists.

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Adam Gerson

Board Member

Adam is a human resources professional and a member of the Young Leadership of Chattanooga, Jewish Federation and the Ohio State Alumni Association.

Darrell Moore

Darrell Moore

Board Member

Darrell served as the former president and CEO of Parkridge/HCA Healthcare and had been there since 1988 prior to his recent retirement. He is also an American College of Health Care Executives fellow. He belongs to the Chattanooga Yacht Club and enjoys boating, golfing and mountain biking. He is married with a daughter and two grandchildren.

Gerald Street

Gerald Street

Board Member

Gerald has worked for Komatsu, the second largest construction equipment manufacturer in the world, for 33 years. He’s held many positions, such as production planning coordinator, purchasing coordinator, technical support engineer, warehouse manager and various assembly manager positions.

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Joey Thomas, NREMT, JD, MPH

Board Member

Joey’s been at the Chattanooga Fire Department for the past 10 years. During this time, he also served as a social worker in North Georgia. His interests include harnessing innovative health policy to improve Chattanooga’s healthcare delivery systems through public and private partnerships. He’s also a current JA Henry YMCA Branch board member.

Marsha Easter

Marsha Easter

Board Member

Marsha is an experienced banker with a demonstrated history of working in the financial services industry for nearly two decades. She’s a member of Chattanooga Women’s Leadership Institute, Chattanooga State Dinner of Firsts, The Canyons board and is the fifth-grade girls’ basketball assistant coach at Chattanooga Christian School.

Melissa White

Melissa White

Board Member

Melissa is passionate about servant leadership, program and people development, envisioning, collaboration, operations management and project oversight, strategic planning, and community impact. She is actively involved in the Junior League of Chattanooga and also serves on Chi Omega’s House Corporation Board.

Rebecca Farinash Love

Rebecca Farinash Love

Board Member

Rebecca currently practices bankruptcy law at Farinash & Stofan. She’s a member of Gamma Phi Beta International Sorority, serves as the financial advisor for the Eta Epsilon Chapter of Gamma Phi Beta at Virginia Tech and is a member of the Tennessee Hemophilia and Bleeding Disorder Foundation.

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