UK HealthCare Cleft Palate Team earns national recognition for its service
The Cleft Palate service at UK HealthCare was recognized by The American Cleft Palate-Craniofacial Association (ACPA) as a fully approved Cleft Palate Team in late January.
Leading the effort to get team recognition from the ACPA were Dr. James Liau and Dr. Kant Lin, UK HealthCare plastic surgeons, and Brooke Wilson, PA-C. Being a “fully approved Cleft Palate Team” by the ACPA is more than a national association’s stamp of approval. It is of major significance, particularly with pediatric patients and their families at Kentucky Children’s Hospital, Dr. Liau commented.
“It is the best way to show parents that UK HealthCare provides the highest quality of cleft palate repair and support for their children. In addition to our excellent reconstructive surgery teams, we also provide the full range of post-operative and rehab services connected with this procedure – speech language pathology, social work, and behavioral therapy for example,” Dr. Liau commented. “There is also the expectation that we will maintain high standards in all those services over the long term.”
The ACPA is a national organization that recommends high standards of care for hospitals providing craniofacial surgical services. The organization is widely considered an authority on what a full-service Cleft Palate and Craniofacial team should offer patients and their families.
It’s not just a matter of employing skilled pediatric-craniofacial surgeons. In order to be recognized as a “Cleft Palate Team” by the ACPA, hospitals must provide the full range of services: Orthodontics, Genetics, Pediatric ENT, Speech-Language Pathology, General Pediatrics, and Social Work. In addition, teams earning recognition must also provide access to Psychiatric specialists and Audiology services.
Earning the designation requires hospitals take on a significant commitment to provide a comprehensive service, Liau said. “It was a goal of our division to achieve this recognition. It demonstrates our passion to provide patients the best possible service available.”
