Director

Julie Peterson, M.A.Ed., MA, CCC-SLP

Julie Peterson, MA, MA. Ed., CCC-SLP, completed two Master’s degrees, both with Magna Cum Laude honors, from California State University, Fullerton in the area of Speech Language Pathology and University of Phoenix in the area of Educational Administration. Julie began her career as a Speech Language Pathologist working with infants and toddlers in a state developmental program, Special Children’s Clinic, in Las Vegas, Nevada. She moved on to work with the Clark County School District for 15 years, holding positions as an Early Childhood Speech-Language Pathologist, Special Education Teacher for self-contained programs at the high school level, Assistive Technology Region Lead for ages 3-22, and Assistant Principal for the number one rated magnet elementary school in the United States of America, Sandy Searles Academy for International Studies.

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Julie was highly innovative in opening and operating a school-based coffee shop business with her high school self-contained intellectually and developmentally challenged students who ran the shop successfully within the school, was a leader in integrating specialized augmentative and assistive technology for disabled students into the school district’s curriculum, and eventually brought her experience to run an International Baccalaureate certified school as a school administrator where she integrated the curriculum for all students, from special education through highly gifted.

Following her experience in the school district, Julie moved into clinical practice at the Nevada Community Enrichment Neurorehabilitation Program (NCEP) as a Speech Pathologist and Clinic Manager, where she delivered comprehensive community based skilled treatment services to residential and outpatient children and adults with brain injuries. Julie was a leader in bringing evidence-based practices to the program, and created highly specialized advanced interventions for military personnel with traumatic brain injuries. Julie’s team successfully obtained two 3-year CARF accreditations while at NCEP, receiving several exemplary ratings. Her team of clinicians was also presented with a prestigious award from the Nellis Airforce Base Commander, for exceeding standards of excellence in the rehabilitation of active duty high ranking military members.

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Julie left her position at NCEP to take on a multi-site Director of Rehabilitation position with Kindred Healthcare in Las Vegas, Nevada, where she oversaw skilled rehabilitation services for the Long Term Acute Care (LTAC) Division which focused on providing physical, occupational, and speech therapy to patients who had complex medical needs. Julie then, eventually moved on to overseeing the operations of 26 Kindred LTAC hospitals, as the Director of Operations for the West Region, at which point she received training at John Hopkins Medical Center on implementation of Early Progressive Physical Mobility Programs in the acutely ill population. With her team of clinical experts, Julie brought the first hospital wide Progressive Early Mobility Program to Kindred Healthcare for ventilator dependent and ICU patients. Julie also opened and developed the Neurorehab program at the famous Kentfield Hospital in San Francisco, Ca.  Julie had the honor of receiving the number one ranking ADO award for the LTAC division across clinical and financial metrics.

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After several years spent in the for-profit healthcare business, Julie experienced a call to move back into the non-profit arena, bringing the highest quality of care to those most in need. She finds it her greatest honor and pleasure to lead the NCEP team in bringing state of the art, person-centered and evidence-based treatment practices to persons who have neurological diagnoses, spinal cord injury,  cardiac diagnoses, and intellectual, cognitive, and physical disabilities.

Clinical Manager

Sherry Perucho, DHA, MA, CCC-SLP, CBIST

Dr. Sherry Perucho serves as the Clinical Manager at the Nevada Community Enrichment Program, where she oversees clinical operations and programs. She is dedicated to coming up with innovative ways to provide evidence-based and compassionate care to the people they serve. Her areas of interest include dysphagia, cognitive-linguistic deficits, language disorders, voice disorders, and motor speech disorders in individuals with acquired brain injuries (ABI). Additionally, Dr. Perucho has a keen interest in neurodegenerative disorders such as Parkinson’s disease, Alzheimer’s disease, Primary Progressive Aphasia (PPA), Multiple Systems Atrophy (MSA), and Progressive Supranuclear Palsy (PSP).

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Dr. Perucho has presented at various symposiums on Parkinson’s disease, discussing the role of the Speech Pathologist in treating speech, voice, swallowing, and cognitive issues. She has also delivered lectures on dysphagia and language disorders in brain injuries and has taught numerous Brain Injury Fundamentals classes to direct support providers (DSPs).

Beyond her clinical interests, Dr. Perucho is dedicated to servant leadership, believing it is integral in the healthcare profession. She is passionate about helping new clinicians be the best they can be through mentorship, training, and education.

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Dr. Perucho holds a Doctorate in Healthcare Administration from Virginia University of Lynchburg, Virginia, USA; an MA in Speech Pathology from San Jose State University, San Jose CA; a Graduate Certificate in Disability Studies from Deakin University, Melbourne, Australia; and a Bachelor of Science in Speech Pathology from the University of the Philippines, Manila. With over 20 years of experience as a speech-language pathologist, Dr. Perucho has worked in a variety of settings, including schools, skilled nursing facilities, LTACHs, acute care, and outpatient rehab. She is a Certified Brain Injury Specialist Trainer (CBIST), a certification from the Academy of Brain Injury Specialists through the Brain Injury Association of America. She is a licensed Speech-Language pathologist in the states of California and Nevada and holds the Clinical Certificate of Competence from the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA).

Medical Manager & Nurse Practitioner

Barry Leydecker, APRN, FNP-C

Barry Leydecker holds a national board certification with the American Association of Nurse Practitioners (AANP). He completed his Master of Science in Nursing at the University of Phoenix. He has worked in many specialties including cardiac, neurology, surgical and oncology. Along with specializing in many fields, Barry was a pediatric nurse practitioner for 2 year treating newborns to young adults.  Barry is professional, energetic, motivational, and hard-working. 

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Before coming to NCEP, Barry was a cardiac telemetry registered nurse where he provided patient centered care to adult and geriatric patients who were in need of cardiac monitoring. He also provided evidenced-based education to the patients about heart failure, diabetes mellitus, atrial fibrillation, stroke, renal failure, and more. He would coordinate care for patients undergoing stress tests, heart catheterizations, open heart surgeries, defibrillator placements, pacemaker placements, and many other procedures and surgeries to ensure an efficacious and safe medical course.

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Barry also worked as an interim nurse educator where he fostered the educational needs of the telemetry floor staff, including quality improvement projects. For the patients, he would instruct them and their family in detail about their disease process, complete medication reconciliations and follow core measures guideline for expediting discharges. He worked to ensure patients were successful in self-care and maintenance once leaving the hospital to meet desired outcomes and reduce hospital readmissions.

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Barry is currently the Medical Manager and Nurse Practitioner at NCEP where he oversees the care and medical coordination of both the persons receiving therapy for neurological recovery and cardiac care. He works directly with our persons served and their families to improve medical outcomes by providing comprehensive education, coordinating with community providers and establishing medical care pathways, mentoring our rehabilitation staff, and maintaining the health and well-being of our persons served while they are participating in the therapy program.

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“My desire as a nurse practitioner is to provide continuing and comprehensive health care for the individual and family in an outpatient setting to diagnose and treat ailments of people of varying age populations. Caring for person-served has redirected my goals to utilize and implement current evidence-based practice on preventative medicine for diabetes, heart failure, strokes and other chronic diseases to prevent hospital re-admissions.”