The ECU Health Rehabilitation Department recently announced the 2024 winners of the Bennett Award for Outstanding Rehab Team Members: Krista Austin, OT, and Alyssa Villasenor-Avalos, SLP. The award is named in honor of Wanda Bennett, the former Senior Administrator for Rehabilitation at ECU Health Medical Center, and it recognizes any ECU Health rehabilitation therapist who demonstrates a commitment to excellence in his or her field.
Each year, a selection committee chooses one recipient from ECU Health Medical Center and one from ECU Health community hospitals and ECU Health home health services.
Alyssa Villasenor-Avalos
“I love to talk.”
That’s one reason Alyssa said she fell in love with speech language pathology (SLP).
Another reason is that as a child, she served as the “translator” for a family member with speech delays.
“I was the only one who could communicate with him,” she shared. “I didn’t realize what I was doing, but I had that love of helping, and language was important to me.”
In college, Alyssa thought she wanted to be a doctor, but the classes proved to be too much.
“That’s when I found linguistics,” she said. “That helped me learn about language in general, and I thought I might work in the school system.”
Further exploration led her to speech language pathology.
“A lot had to happen to find this career, but those little things made sense that this is what I wanted to do.”
Now in her fourth year at Outer Banks Health, Alyssa said she enjoys working with a variety of patients and diagnoses.
“We help people across the lifespan, and every day is different. A lot of people don’t realize what SLPs do; it’s a lot more than talking. In acute care, I get to be flexible and creative, and in outpatient, I get to build relationships with our patients.”
Acute or outpatient, Alyssa said the best thing about her job is seeing her patients meet their goals.
“Maybe that patient wants to drink a Dr. Pepper,” she said. “I’m in the swallow suite with them, a Dr. Pepper in my bag, ready to give it to them if they pass the swallow study.”
On a smaller scale, Alyssa said she likes making connections.
“You do a lot of talking in speech therapy, so you get to know your patients in a personal way. I like that,” she said.
As for her team, Alyssa said they’re the best.
“Everyone is a friend. We collaborate well and often co-treat our patients. You can bounce ideas off each other. We trust each other – you don’t always see that. And our leadership makes time for education and learning.”
Alyssa didn’t realize at first that she had won the Bennett Award, but she suspected something was up when her family appeared on a Facetime call while she was at work.
“I didn’t know I had been nominated, let alone that I had won,” she said. “I was shocked and humbled; I was grateful that someone took the time out of their day to nominate me. Working with patients is reward enough, but it is nice when your team notices.”
Alyssa said she hopes this award can bring more attention to rehabilitation services, and to SLP in particular.
“Sometimes rehab isn’t recognized, and our field of therapy can be misunderstood,” she said. “It means a lot that someone out there saw what I was doing, especially after the hard work I’ve put in. Hopefully this brings more awareness to SLPs and what we do. I want more people to know the resources available at ECU Health.”
Krista Austin
In high school, Krista broke her hand playing soccer twice in 13 months.
“I received occupational therapy (OT) for my hand and got to be friends with my OT at that time,” Krista said. “I knew I wanted to work in health care but wasn’t sure how. After seeing what my therapist did, I spent time volunteering and learning more about OT and everything it encompasses.”
That personal experience led Krista to Elizabethtown College in Pennsylvania, where she graduated with a degree in occupational therapy.
Her first job out of college was at Pitt County Memorial Hospital.
“I started in 1998,” she said. “I planned to be here two years, but I am still here.”
Part of what kept her here has been the variety of work.
“ECU Health offers the opportunity to work within my profession while trying different areas of practice,” she said. “There’s a flexibility to move within the system, should you feel the need to change.”
That flexibility began with work in the brain injury program, where Krista found her passion working with patients with neurological diagnoses. “I really enjoy working with patients who have had traumatic brain injuries, spinal cord injuries, strokes, Guillan Barre, Parkinson’s or multiple sclerosis,” she said. “Every day is different. One day you’re helping someone with balance and transfers, and the next you’re working on vision or cooking in the kitchen.”
From there, Krista found a place in the Day Rehab program, which focused on community reentry skills, before moving on to outpatient rehabilitation and then a two-year stint as a general rehab supervisor. She is now back to working in the outpatient setting.
“We want our patients to have a good quality of life, and it’s enjoyable to identify activities that are meaningful to them,” she said.
Through all these changes, Krista said one constant has been her amazing colleagues.
“We are all family and collaborate well together,” she shared. “It’s not just one discipline; it takes all of us every day. The patients come and go, but your colleagues are with you day in and out.”
Despite her passion for her work, Krista said she didn’t expect to win the Bennett award.
“I was shocked and honored,” she said. “It’s rewarding to be recognized by my peers and leadership. Deep down, I know that what I’m doing is meaningful to our patients, but it’s nice to be seen and recognized by the team.”
It’s also rewarding, she said, because occupational therapy is often a misunderstood discipline.
“Occupational therapy gets confused with physical therapy, or people think you do something to get them back to work,” she laughed. “Having the recognition for this discipline highlights what we do, and it’s very important to have that.”
The award was made even more meaningful because Krista knew and worked with Wanda Bennett.
“It felt really personal. She’s no longer here, but I felt like she was looking down on me. I always looked up to her and hope others can look up to me.”