When Kerry Leavitt learned that the Speech and Language Pathology Department at North Country Hospital was in need of another speech and language pathologist she and her husband, Brock, couldn't believe it.
“He said 'you have got to apply for that,'” Kerry said. “My husband [a Burlington native] has been coming up here since he was a baby.” His family owns a camp on Lake Seymour.
Kerry joined the team on August 16. Brock is also employed at North Country working per diem as a radiological technician in the hospital's Diagnostic Imaging Department.
“We are very happy to have Kerry here, not only because she adds to our hospital Speech & Language Department, but because through a unique and collaborative contract with North Country Supervisory Union, we are helping out our local school children,” Lisa Erwin-Davidson said.
“After I arrived in 2001, I saw the significant need for skilled speech-language services in many different areas. My hope was that within five years the hospital administration would work with me to hire five certified and licensed speech-language pathologists for our community. Nine years later we have achieved that goal. I hope North Country Hospital and North Country Supervisory Union continue in that collaborative relationship.” Lisa is the veteran speech and language pathologist in North Country's Speech and Language Pathology Department as well as their clinical supervisor.
When most people think of “New York” they automatically think about the hustle and bustle of "the big city." Kerry is quick to point out that wasn't the New York she grew up in, but in rural northern New York State.
“I'm a country girl,” she said. “Where I grew up it was a 20 mile trip to town.” Kindergarten through grade 12 was all housed in one school. There were only 40 students in her graduating class. One member of her graduating class included her identical twin. As a side note Brock is also a twin.
Following high school graduation she went onto graduate from Suny-Plattsburgh with a bachelor's degree in Communication Disorders and Sciences. That was followed by a master's degree in Speech and Language Pathology from the College of St. Rose in Albany, New York.
After experiencing life in Plattsburgh, and then Albany, Kerry said she knew it was time to return to rural life. Fortunately for North Country she decided to settle here in Vermont's Northeast Kingdom.
“I like it here a lot,” she said. “I like my co-workers. Everybody has been awesome.”