Director - H. Steven Sims, MD
Dr. Sims (pronouns: he/him) is the director of the Chicago Institute for Voice Care at the UIC Medical Center in Chicago. He is a board certified laryngologist who chose a career in professional voice care as an extension of his two passions, medicine and singing. A graduate of the Yale University School of Medicine, H. Steven Sims, MD completed a clinical fellowship at the Vanderbilt Voice Center and is a current appointee of the National Institute on Deafness and Communication Disorders Advisory Council with the National Institutes of Health. He is also an accomplished musician who plays trombone, bassoon and piano. While an undergraduate at Yale University he was a member of choirs and he is an experienced vocalist as well.
His personal experiences and education are employed to address the problems of singers, performing artists and other voice professionals. The Chicago Institute for Voice Care is dedicated to increasing the awareness and treatment of the unique issues faced by performing artists and providing comprehensive care. He has worked with opera soloists and cast members of "Wicked", "Hamilton", "Jersey Boys", "Book of Mormon" and numerous other shows as well as Chicago's Oscar winning Dreamgirl.
Speech Pathologist - Alexandra Schenck, MS, CCC-SLP
Alexandra Schenck, MS, CCC-SLP, a licensed speech-language pathologist, joined the Chicago Institute for Voice Care at UI Health in 2023. Alexandra specializes in the evaluation and treatment of voice, upper airway, swallowing, and head and neck cancer rehabilitation. She manages tracheoesophageal voice prosthesis patients and outpatient laryngectomy care. She also has well-rounded experience in care for the professional voice, singing voice, and gender-affirmation voice care. Prior to becoming a speech-language pathologist, she worked professionally as an opera singer, which informs her approach to therapy.
Administrative Assistant - Diana Guzman
Diana has been in the Department of Otolaryngology for 15 years and serves as an administrative assistant to Dr. Sims. She personifies the core values of UI Health, compassion, accountability, respect and excellence. She will direct you through the registration process (new patients) and will assist you with scheduling an appointment.
