Speech Pathologist - Regional Stroke Program - Regular Part-Time 2025-13940 (2025-13940)

Sunnybrook is the Regional Stroke Centre for the North & East GTA Stroke Network (NEGTASN). The Regional Stroke Best Practice Team is an interprofessional team that offers clinical consultation and supports regional initiatives and partners. The team provides leadership and education in the development and implementation of best practice stroke care related to the assessment, rehabilitation, and recovery needs of persons with stroke in the hospital and community. Their role facilitates access to stroke expertise, case management, and consultation services.

Summary Of Duties

Reporting to the Regional Director, the Speech-Language Pathologist (SLP) is an integral member of the NEGTASN team, combining clinical expertise with system-level leadership. In a consultative role within an outpatient stroke clinic, the SLP works within an interprofessional team to provide specialized assessment, intervention, and guidance for individuals experiencing communication and swallowing difficulties post-stroke.

In addition to clinical care, the SLP is a champion for regional implementation of evidence-based practices by leading or contributing to quality improvement initiatives, delivering education, facilitating knowledge translation, and collaborating with partners to strengthen stroke care across the continuum. The successful candidate is a collaborative and proactive clinician with strong communication skills, a passion for stroke care, and a demonstrated ability to support change across systems. They bring both clinical excellence and a strategic mind set to improving outcomes for individuals with stroke across the region.

Responsibilities Include

• Provide consultative speech-language pathology services to outpatients of the Sunnybrook Stroke Program within the Hurvitz Brain Sciences Program.
• Triage referrals, coordinate care, and facilitate timely access to services.
• Assess and treat communication, language, speech, swallowing, feeding, and alternative and augmentative communication needs in individuals post-stroke.
• Identify and initiate referrals for additional assessments or services as appropriate.
• Educate and counsel patients and caregivers regarding communication and swallowing challenges.
• Raise awareness and facilitate access to community resources to support independence, re-engagement, and self-management.
• Maintain accurate patient records and workload statistics in line with facility and professional standards.
• Practice in accordance with the College of Audiologists and Speech-Language Pathologists of Ontario (CASLPO) guidelines.
• Act as a regional resource for patients, families, and interprofessional teams on post-stroke communication and swallowing care.
• Serve as a stroke best practice champion, bridging clinical care and regional initiatives.
• Lead and support the implementation and sustainability of NEGTASN and Toronto Stroke Networks (TSN) initiatives.
• Collaborate with the NEGTASN team to engage partner sites in network-led projects.
• Lead or contribute to NEGTASN initiatives aimed at advancing stroke best practices.
• Participate in the Regional Stroke Program, SLP Professional Council, and relevant hospital or regional committees.
• Act as a subject matter expert to the TSN and, when appropriate, provincial stroke working groups.
• Maintain professional knowledge through ongoing education and actively share expertise through knowledge exchange opportunities.
• In support of Sunnybrook’s full affiliation with the University of Toronto, participate in teaching speech-language pathology students on an ongoing basis including acting as a preceptor for fieldwork placements; supervision of one or two student placements annually is expected.
  
  

Qualifications/Skills

• Current CASLPO registration
• Strong background and significant experience (2 years or more) in stroke care is required
• Strong understanding and application of evidence-based stroke best practices is required
• Experience with dysphagia and communication assessment/ management
• Experience providing patient/family education
• Ability to work collaboratively as a member of intra- and interprofessional teams
• Demonstrated commitment to student education
• Demonstrated commitment to Person-Centred care
• Demonstrated commitment to maintain and upgrade skills and knowledge through continuing education and professional development
• Excellent professional judgment, conflict resolution and interpersonal communication skills with patients, families, team members, students and community partners
• Strong written and oral communication, critical thinking, care coordination, and time management skills
• Experience in making referrals to various agencies/community partners will be an asset