May 18, 2026 | Ethan Simmons
Donor-funded telehealth initiative aims to expand rural health care access
With a boost from donors, researchers and clinical faculty in the Department of Speech and Hearing Science are collaborating to introduce a new speech and hearing healthcare option for residents in rural areas of northern Illinois.
Partnering with the Illinois Extension, the department will establish a rural telehealth site in Stephenson County to offer state-of-the-art remote clinical services that residents can easily access. Upon successful testing and initiation, the department will be ready to expand these services to other counties.
The Speech and Hearing Science Rural Health and Telehealth Initiative was developed on a charge from new department head, Professor Georgia Malandraki, after a generous donation for the cause from David Shockey, attorney and two-time University of Illinois graduate from Freeport, Illinois.
“Our department has a strong history of leading telehealth research and advancing evidence-based practice in our field. I am deeply grateful for the support that made this initiative possible, allowing us to extend our impact and deliver high-quality speech, language, cognitive and hearing care to those who need it most,” Malandraki said.
“By building on our faculty’s expertise, we are also strengthening student training and preparing future clinicians and scientists to serve rural communities.”
Of 102 counties in Illinois, 82 are classified as rural by the state’s Department of Public Health. About 15 percent of Illinois residents reside in rural areas of the state, which are more likely to face healthcare staff shortages and limited access to specialty services.
“Part of what we’re trying to investigate right now is just what are the needs of the community, and how does that fold in with the opportunities and what we’re already offering,” said SHS Associate Professor Dan Fogerty, who researches speech perception and hearing loss. “With telehealth and remote services, you need to have the platform and infrastructure in order to provide those.”
For faculty at the Department of Speech and Hearing Science, these telehealth sites will be a chance to implement their ongoing research, outreach and clinical practices around telehealth in a new region.
The rural health initiative is steered by a task force of research and clinical faculty at Speech and Hearing Science, including Fogerty; Professor Raksha Mudar; Clinical Associate Professor Clarion Mendes, a speech-language pathologist; and Clinical Assistant Professor Sadie Braun, an audiologist.
“We have a flagship campus with a commitment to our communities. This is a way we can demonstrate that our services extend beyond our campus alone,” said Mudar, who directs the Aging and Neurocognition Lab. “We have built the evidence base—we have the expertise, so now it’s just bringing it all together to offer a more cohesive way to extend that to the community.”
For SHS students, the telehealth sites will provide opportunities to serve individuals in under-resourced areas using the latest remote care technology, broadening their hands-on experience before they become full-time clinicians.
The project is still early in development, but a crowd-funded campaign helped raise another $2,000 to support the establishment of both telehealth sites. The initiative will build on the teamwork from previous collaborations across the department, including a grant-funded project to create more accurate hearing tests.
“The nice thing about Speech and Hearing Science at Illinois is that the education, the research and the clinical practice are all integrated,” Fogerty said. “This is an excellent project to demonstrate that.”
Editor’s note:
To reach Ethan Simmons, email ecsimmon@illinois.edu.
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