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Easter Seals merges with Hearing & Speech
YOUNGSTOWN
Easter Seals Society of Mahoning, Trumbull and Columbiana Counties and the Youngstown Hearing Speech Center have merged.
The Hearing & Speech Board of Directors approved the affiliation in December, and the Easter Seal Board of Directors followed suit in January.
The new board, consisting of the board members of the merged agencies, conducted its reorganization meeting Jan. 24, said Kenan J. Sklenar, president and chief executive officer of Easter Seals of Mahoning, Trumbull and Columbiana Counties and CEO of the new organization.
Alfred Pasini, former executive director of Youngstown Hearing & Speech, is chief development officer of the new organization and chief operating officer of the Youngstown Hearing & Speech Center.
The board president is Bill Leicht, and its vice president is Mary Ann Carano-Martinko.
Sklenar said the merger, under discussion for about eight months, will benefit clients by making available one of the largest direct-service staff of audiologists, speech pathologists, occupational therapists, physical therapists and sign-language interpreters for the deaf in the area.
It also will offer a more seamless delivery of services to children and adults and allow services at each facility to be expanded, he said.
Sklenar said Easter Seals and Hearing & Speech each typically serve about 5,000 individuals, a number that includes client’s family members, annually.
The organizations will benefit through elimination of duplicated services and integration of program and administrative functions to increase efficiency, which will allow allocation of more resources for direct client services.
Also, Sklenar said, the merger will strengthen the organization’s ability to raise funds and attract competitive grant awards. It will increase use of current technology across the entire organization and make resources available through Easter Seals’ national affiliation.
No jobs will be lost because of the merger. Sklenar said Easter Seals has held some positions open in anticipation of the merger.
Also, the location of both organizations will remain the same. Easter Seals’ main facility is at 299 Edwards St., Youngstown, and it has another facility at 721 Boardman-Poland Road, Boardman.
All services in Trumbull and Columbiana counties are provided in-home except for people who travel to the Mahoning facilities. Youngstown Hearing & Speech is located at 6614 Southern Blvd., Boardman.