Phelps Memorial Hospital
Sleepy Hollow, NY 10591
Westchester County
914-366-3000
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Volunteer
Songbird Regains her Voice The Greatest Holiday Gift of All
December 9, 2005
For Maria T. Calfa-DePaul her gift arrived weeks before the holiday season, she got her singing voice back.
“Being able to open my mouth and sing whenever I feel like it, is truly a blessing,” she said. “When you love something and it gets taken away the sadness is unreal. You accept it, but never forget. For eight years I thought I would never be able to sing again. Now I can and the joy is immeasurable.”
Calfa-DePaul, who had surgery on her vocal folds, is a patient of Dr. Craig Zalvan’s, MD, FACS, a laryngologist - a specialist of voice and swallowing disorders, and the medical director of The Institute for Voice and Swallowing Disorders at Phelps Hospital Center in Sleepy Hollow. A resident of Suffern and a working mom, Calfa-DePaul is now writing songs and producing her first album. “Dr. Zalvan not only gave me my voice back, he gave me back my life,” said Calfa-DePaul.
“We have the latest diagnostic equipment and the experience and knowledge to formulate a proper treatment regimen,” said Zalvan, a graduate of Albert Einstein College of Medicine. Zalvan is a board certified laryngologist; he completed an Otolaryngology (ear, nose & throat) residency at Manhattan Eye & Ear Hospital and Columbia Presbyterian Hospital, which included training at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center and New York Hospital. He completed a specialty fellowship in laryngology that focused primarily on voice and swallowing disorders at St. Luke’s Roosevelt Hospital in Manhattan.
The Institute’s focus is on education, correct diagnosis and proper therapy. It’s community education programs include the dangers of smoking and laryngeal/pharyngeal cancer, problems related to chronic laryngo-pharyngeal reflux disease that include cancer and esophageal cancer, and general voice and swallowing problems related to chronic LPR, include laryngeal cancer, esophageal cancer, disorders of voice abuse and overuse, professional voice disorders, and swallowing problems.
The Institute for Voice and Swallowing Disorders is a one-of-a kind resource for the greater Hudson Valley, it brings together Westchester's only laryngologist with two of Westchester's three speech language pathologists who are also classically trained singers. This team of voice and swallowing experts are experienced professionals who are certified by the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association and licensed by New York State. The Voice and Swallowing Disorders Institute is at 777 North Broadway, Suite 303. Call (914) 366-3636 for an appointment.
Surgery is just part of the story at the Institute. The therapeutic aftercare is also of vital importance. For Calfa-DePaul it was the opportunity to work with Leah Ross-Kugler, a speech therapist. “I was placed under the care of an extremely talented professional who has guided me every step of the way in using my voice without damaging it,” she said. “Her expertise in the field of speech and vocal therapy has helped me achieve a vocal quality I used to only dream about. Her patience and encouragement have kept me motivated and determined. Dr. Zalvan gave me my voice back and Leah has taught me how to keep it!”
Phelps Memorial Hospital is a 235-bed community hospital with 450 physicians, representing 34 different medical specialties. Phelps is the Westchester Satellite for Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, a clinical affiliate of Mount Sinai Hospital, and the newest member of the New York Presbyterian Healthcare System.