World Hearing Day is recognised this week and North West Hospital and Health Service (HHS) is celebrating 12 years of offering Audiology clinics to Mount Isa residents and more than two years of running Tele-Audiology clinics.

Mount Isa Hospital Audiology Assistant, Terene Madden said the extra services the hearing department has been able to provide to the community has been extremely beneficial.

“We work closely with the Healthy Hearing team in Brisbane to do newborn hearing screening assessments via Tele-Audiology and are also able to perform diagnostic hearing assessments via Tele-Audiology with the Townsville University Hospital,” she said.

Ms Madden has been working in the role for more than 10 years and loves seeing how it continues to evolve.

“Being able to provide this service to the community limits the travel families and individuals need to do to get a hearing assessment performed. We are very happy to offer this service right here in Mount Isa for our community.”

Coinciding with World Hearing Day this week, the Audiology Department are holding an interactive display at the Mount Isa Hospital on Thursday 2^nd March. Those attending will be able to participate in video otoscopy, where an image of what’s inside your ear can be shown and tymp tests, a middle ear test that shows either a healthy middle ear, fluid or blockage behind the eardrums.

If you would like to access hearing services, you can self-refer. GP referrals are required if there are medical reasons for requiring a hearing assessment.