Carthage Area Hospital adds three to therapy-services team

CARTHAGE, N.Y. — Three new providers have joined the Carthage Therapy Services Team at Carthage Area Hospital. 

The hospital said Cale Siver, occupational therapist; Fran Garner, physical therapist; and Vania Falen, speech-language pathologist, have come aboard.

Siver received his associate degree in health studies in 2013 from Jefferson Community College in Watertown. He went on to Utica College for his bachelor’s degree in health studies and master’s in occupational therapy where he graduated in 2017. Siver moved to Maryland, where he worked for Caroline Nursing and Rehab in Denton, Anchorage Healthcare Center in Salisbury, and The Pines Nursing and Rehab in Easton. His career then took him to California and Arizona, before finally landing in Texas in 2020 at Keller Oaks Healthcare Center. 

Garner was born and raised in Miami, Florida. She attended Broward College in Pembroke Pines, where she received her associate degree with a pre-med emphasis in 2010. Following Broward College, Garner completed her bachelor’s in athletic training with a minor in exercise science at Nova Southeastern University in Fort Lauderdale in 2014. She finished her doctorate degree in physical therapy with a manual-therapy emphasis at University of Saint Augustine for Health Sciences in Florida in 2020. Garner is also a certified strength and conditioning coach. Prior to arriving at Carthage Hospital, she worked as a school-based physical therapist for the Board of Cooperative Education Services in Watertown, as well as a skilled-nursing physical therapist at Center Care Rehabilitation in Carthage. She also has five years of experience working as a licensed athletic trainer in Orlando, providing injury-prevention services to high-level athletes and industrial workers.

Originally from West Virginia, Falen is a speech-language pathologist with more than 25 years of clinical and administrative experience in a variety of therapy settings including hospitals, rehabilitation centers/clinics, private practice, and schools. She received her bachelor’s degree in speech pathology and master’s in speech-language pathology from the University of Tennessee. Falen comes to Carthage from Claxton- Hepburn Medical Center in Ogdensburg, where she’s provided care since 2013 and continues to provide per-diem coverage as well as providing per-diem services to Canton-Potsdam Hospital and Saranac Lake Hospital. She also previously worked at Memorial Hospital for Children in Colorado Springs, Colorado and Thomas Jefferson University Hospital in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. 

“We are very excited that these highly-skilled professionals have joined our team at therapy services. They each bring their individualized skills and talents, which support our mission of committing to health-care excellence and value-based personal care to all who seek comfort and healing. While we have had occupational and physical-therapy services available, it has been many years since we have been able to offer speech-language pathology services. We are now able to offer adult and pediatric services focused on feeding & swallowing, language and cognitive rehabilitation,” Cheryl Tousant, Carthage Area Hospital’s therapy department manager, said in a news release.

Carthage Area Hospital provides physical, occupational, and speech-language therapy at two outlying clinics located on-site at the hospital and at Philadelphia Physical Therapy in the town of Philadelphia in Jefferson County, as well as acute & sub-acute therapy services. Its providers can help patients with pain, stiffness, muscle weakness, balancing concerns, issues with limited mobility, and more.