Heartland Regional Brings Mobile Hearing and Speech Clinic to Southern Illinois
Heartland Regional Medical Center, is proud to work with St. Louis Children’s Hospital to host a mobile hearing and speech clinic once a month. The mobile clinic, staffed by audiologists and speech pathologists from St. Louis Children’s Hospital, provides pediatric hearing and speech services to children in need throughout Southern Illinois.
“There’s a great need for accessible pediatric hearing and speech services throughout the region,” said William Davis, Heartland Regional ACEO. “Locally, families often wait several weeks, and in some cases, months, to see an audiologist. By working with St. Louis Children’s Hospital, we can help families get their child seen on a much quicker basis without having to travel a long distance.”
The 44-foot-long mobile unit travels throughout a three-hour radius of St. Louis serving children from birth to 21 years old who require audiologic follow-up after failed or missed hearing screenings, or when hearing concerns are noted.
“Our specialty is really young kids,” said Jamie Cadieux, Supervisor of Audiology and Cochlear Implants at St. Louis Children’s Hospital. “Depending on the age of the child, we have a variety of techniques we can use to help kids engage in the process. If for some reason they are unable to participate, we have special tests we can use to help us understand what they are hearing.”
The mobile hearing and speech clinic provides access to:
- Otoscopy, otoacoustic emission testing and tympanometry
- Non-sedated screening and diagnostic Auditory Brainstem Response (ABR) measures
- Behavioral hearing tests via pure-tone audiometry for patients 6 months and older
- Rehabilitative care for children with hearing loss
- Fitting and maintenance of hearing aids, bone conduction systems, cochlear implants, FM/DM systems and assistive devices
- Speech and language evaluation and therapy (including spoken language, American Sign Language, Total Communication and more)
- Coordinated audiologic care to support physician practices or educational institutions