Esther’s story: Finding her way to communicate

At age 2, Esther was a quiet, shy girl who smiled a lot.

Her parents soon became concerned by her lack of vocabulary, but it was not until they took her for a speech and hearing evaluation at Providence Speech and Hearing Center (PSHC) that it was discovered Esther had a speech and language disorder that made it difficult for her to communicate.

A year later, after participating in PSHC’s individual and group therapy, working with speech and language therapists, Esther has made incredible progress.

Her mother shared, “This journey with PSHC has been a rewarding one. My daughter has blossomed, her personality has shined through. Esther now walks with confidence.”

Providence Speech and Hearing Center is one of the only clinics in Orange County that provides comprehensive, multidisciplinary hearing, speech, language, audiology and physical therapy services under one roof, and the only agency of its kind willing to accept patients with Medi-Cal and other government-sponsored insurance.

In 2020, Providence became affiliated with CHOC and, after two years, our partnership has benefitted patients by increasing access to care as well as providing improved integrated care, including delivering an average of 86,000 free and reduced-price speech, language and/or hearing appointments to patients with hearing impairments and communication disorders each year.

As a safety-net provider, 72% of appointments at PSHC are dedicated to under- and un-insured patients—with nearly 97% of these appointments being for children. Without our community partners, PSHC would be unable to meet the audiology and speech needs of tens of thousands of individuals across Orange County, especially during these unprecedented times. Philanthropy is crucial in our ability to connect patients like Esther to services that help them improve quality of life and achieve greater levels of independence.