It takes less time to do things right than to

explain why you did it wrong.

-Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

Annalisa Torres Aquino is the Senior Director of Clinical Compliance for Aspen Therapy. She has been managing Aspen's Clinical Compliance Department since June 2018. She attended Ohio University and Cleveland State University and obtained a Bachelors of Arts in Health Science and Minority Studies in 2000. Annalisa continued at Cleveland State University and obtained her Masters of Science in Physical Therapy in 2002. She holds a license for Physical Therapy in the State of Ohio and has been licensed since 2003.

During her time at Ohio University, Annalisa served as a founding member of the Eta Chapter of Alpha Psi Lambda, a co-educational, Latino-oriented Greek Intercollegiate Fraternity. During her time at Cleveland State University she continued as an active member of Alpha Psi Lambda and also volunteered her time at various community agencies including Ohio Reads and The Center for Poverty Studies. 

Professionally, Annalisa has over 18 years of clinical experience in various settings including inpatient acute care, skilled nursing, long-term care, and homecare. She has worked with a wide demographic of clients ranging from pediatrics to geriatrics. When in the clinic, Annalisa thoroughly enjoys working with medically complex clients, supervising staff, and mentoring students who are rotating through the various stages of their clinical education.

Annalisa is married to her husband, Elvis, and together they have 3 children, Xavier, Yesenia, and Juliann. As a family they enjoy travelling, martial arts, performing arts, live music, and food. They travel nationally and internationally for Tae Kwon Do competitions. When Annalisa is not with her family, she continues to volunteer her time as an Alumni of Alpha Psi Lambda Fraternity where she serves as the Director of Undergraduate Affairs.

Mary Lou Mlachak, M.A., CCC-SLP

Director of Clinical Compliance

Aspen recently expanded the Clinical Compliance Department to include our newest team member, Mary Lou Mlachak, Director of Clinical Compliance. Mary Lou joined Aspen after working for sister company, Arbor Rehabilitation, for close to 15 years. During her tenure with Arbor, she was a Facility Rehab Coordinator for 11 years, encompassing 3 different contracts. She received her Bachelor of Science degree from John Carroll University and Master of Arts in Speech-Language Pathology from Cleveland State University. Originally from the Youngstown area, she has lived most of her adult life in the Cleveland area. 

Mary Lou’s experience as a Speech-Language Pathologist spans over 25 years and various treatment settings, including SNF, acute care, outpatient rehabilitation, and home health care. She currently holds a license in the state of Ohio, although she began her career licensed in Florida, and holds Certificate of Clinical Competence in Speech-Language Pathology. She is certified in Deep Pharyngeal Neuromuscular Stimulation (DPNS) and VitalStim modalities. The most valuable experiences in her career have involved restoring patients’ swallowing function to transition from feeding tube to eating again. 

Mary Lou has also had the opportunity to assist others along their career paths in Speech-Language Pathology by supervising various SLP graduate students and mentoring clinical fellows in Speech-Language Pathology, some of whom went on to become Aspen and Arbor employees. Mary Lou was in a unique position during her career to have been a member of a SNF management team both at the beginning of Medicare’s transition to the Prospective Payment System (PPS), as well as Medicare’s transition to Patient Driven Payment Model (PDPM). 

Mary Lou lives with her husband Robert, with whom she shares an affinity for international travel and English Bulldogs, especially their very entertaining fur baby, Moses.  Mary Lou also loves spending time with her large extended family and baking homemade treats for family and friends. 

Share Your Success

Your Compliance Team wants to hear from you! E-mail your patients' success stories (with photos and photo releases) for a chance to be shared on our website, social media sites, and newsletters. Don't be afraid to brag about staff members' events and accomplishments or unique activities and programs in your facilities and communities.