New speech and hearing, and behavioral health clinics open at Campbell Hall

WEST LIBERTY -- West Liberty University students and the community should benefit from two new clinical spaces opened there Thursday.

WLU cut the ribbon Tuesday to open a speech and hearing clinic and a behavioral health clinic on the fourth floor of the Campbell Hall of Health Sciences.

"We are very excited to provide audiology and communication disorder services to the regional community, and to provide invaluable learning opportunities for our undergraduate and graduate students," said Karen Kettler, dean of the College of Sciences. Kettler thanked former WLU President Stephen Greiner for his leadership in beginning the project, and new President W. Franklin Evans for "getting us over the finish line" to open the clinics.

"This is an exciting day here at West Liberty University to think that we can have two clinics -- not just one -- but two here on the hilltop," Evans said. "Certainly the behavioral health, as well as the speech and hearing clinics are going to serve the region extremely well.

"It will afford our students the opportunity to get hands-on experience long before they even graduate from West Liberty University ... I just know this is something you are going to hear about days, weeks, even years later."

The spaces at Campbell Hall where the clinics are housed were previously vacant.

WLU worked with PWWG, the same Pittsburgh architectural firm that built Campbell Hallm to renovate and create space for the clinic. The current expansion completes about a third of the space available on the fourth floor.

Campbell Hall opened in 2014. The behavioral health clinic will be a learning ground for students currently in the master of arts in clinical psychology degree program at WLU, which began in the fall of 2019. Students in the program are overseen by licensed faculty and will treat the behavioral health clients that visit the clinic.

Jessica Collins, professor and director of the behavioral health clinic, said there are five students in the inaugural class of master students, which will graduate in 2022.

"We're very excited to be part of the effort to expand mental health care in West Virginia," she said.

This clinic offers psychological assessment services like testing for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. Teletherapy also is available for those that prefer a virtual appointment.

WLU's speech pathology and audiology undergraduate degree program has been educating students since 1975, and WLU is seeking accreditation for its new master of speech-language pathology degree program that will operate out of the speech and hearing clinic.

The masters program hopes to be up and running by the fall of 2022, said with an anticipated start date of fall 2022, said Carol Zombotti, assistant professor of speech language pathology. The expanded speech and hearing clinic offers clinical services such as comprehensive hearing assessments and speech and language diagnostic and treatment options for patients of all ages, she said.

The speech and hearing clinic is open from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. Monday through Thursday, with evening hours by request. Fees are low cost and vary according to service.

The behavioral health clinic is open from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., Monday through Thursday.

For information or to make an appointment for either of the clinics, call at (304) 336-8199 or visit westliberty.edu/college-of-sciences.