Did you know that March 3, 2021 is World Hearing Day? This year’s theme is “Hearing Care for all!”

 For many years, ensuring equal access to hearing healthcare has been a strong focus and mission for HEAR Wisconsin.

HEAR Wisconsin does not turn anyone away who needs hearing care, evaluations, hearing aid fittings/repairs and more. Many audiology clinics and hearing aid centers do not take patients who are on Medicaid and Medicare. As a mission-driven nonprofit organization, HEAR Wisconsin provides hearing care for all whenever possible. We know that good hearing and communication are essential at all stages of life, that hearing loss can be avoided or slowed down through preventive actions, and that appropriate care should be sought sooner versus later.

But there are many in our community who do not get the hearing care that they need. Did you know that schools no longer have a statutory requirement to perform health appraisals, including hearing screenings? Also, did you know that most free health clinics do not include hearing healthcare? There is a significant number of elderly, veterans, homeless people and employees in high noise environments who already have hearing issues. Lastly, lack of access to transportation and/or physical mobility issues can be insurmountable for many people to get their hearing professionally checked by an audiologist.

Thanks to generous funders in our community, HEAR Wisconsin is thrilled to launch the state’s first community Mobile Audiology Clinic this year! With the Mobile Audiology Clinic, HEAR Wisconsin can truly provide equal hearing care for all throughout our Wisconsin communities.

 The Mobile Audiology Clinic will provide hearing screenings onsite at schools, assisted living facilities, homeless shelters, community centers, health fairs, and more. In addition, as part of the sustainability objective of this new program, HEAR Wisconsin is partnering with companies to provide hearing conservation services (OSHA testing requirement) for their employees who work in environments with high noise levels. As part of the equal hearing care for all mission, HEAR Wisconsin has set up HEAR Better Fund program to provide hearing aids at low or no cost to people who may not have the financial means to purchase hearing aids and batteries.

 The Mobile Audiology Clinic is currently in production and is set to roll into the Wisconsin communities in June 2021.