Please note: the start date for this mobile clinic is currently in the process of being rescheduled. As soon as we have the rescheduled date, we will share those details in a revised press release.
New Children’s Mobile Hearing and Speech Clinic To Make First Stop at UNC Health Nash
UNC Health has rolled out a new mobile clinic that will provide important hearing tests and speech assessments to children across the state, especially in rural areas. The Otolaryngology Mobile Speech and Hearing Clinic will be making its first stop at UNC Health Nash at a date that is to be determined.
The goal of the hearing and speech mobile clinic is to ensure that all children have access to critical diagnostic audiology and speech language pathology services. The clinic focuses on reaching children in rural areas and vulnerable populations.
“UNC Health is proud to provide important hearing and speech services for children across North Carolina,” said Dr. Wendell Yarbrough, Chair of the Department of Otolaryngology/Head and Neck Surgery at UNC School of Medicine. “This ‘clinic on wheels’ is another way we’re working to improve access and care for all North Carolinians.”
Hearing loss impacts up to 3 out of every 1,000 children with potentially devasting effects on a child’s communication skills and educational development. Children living in rural areas experience more pronounced negative health and developmental consequences related to hearing loss because of limited access to care.
Like many health conditions early treatment for hearing loss, including specialized testing after a failed newborn screening, is vital. Yet there is limited availability of this testing by those qualified to treat children in rural areas, which puts this population of children at a significant disadvantage.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 35.1 percent of children born in North Carolina in 2021 who failed their newborn hearing screening were lost to follow up or could not be reached. A comprehensive diagnostic evaluation with a pediatric audiologist is crucial to timely care following a failed hearing screening. This staggering statistic places North Carolina in the bottom half of all states securing diagnostic testing needed after a failed newborn hearing screen.
The mobile clinic’s team expects to be on the road three days a week. The clinic will have two exam spaces.
UNC Hospitals Audiology is partnering with UNC Faculty Physicians to staff the unit. UNC Health entities outside of the Triangle, such as UNC Nash, are partnering with this team to provide parking and facility access, as well as serve as a patient referral resource for the unit. There is an additional partnership with Evangelical Lutheran Church in America in Jacksonville, N.C., with more partners on the way.
The clinic is also working with the NC Department of Public Instruction to identify schools that do not have access to consistent audiology care. Eventually, the team will partner with local health departments and community centers to determine where else there may be a need for the clinic’s services.
For more information about the Mobile Speech and Hearing Clinic, visit https://www.med.unc.edu/ent/services/mobile-hearing-speech-clinic/
