Children and families will benefit from a new audiology clinic set to open at Prince Rupert Regional Hospital this summer, the BC government announced today.

Children living with hearing loss in Prince Rupert and coastal communities as well as the Queen Charlotte Islands will have better access to specialized services through a new local audiology clinic. Child Health BC will provide $585,000 through the North Coast Health Improvement Society to fund the new facility, expected to open this summer at Prince Rupert Regional Hospital.

"This new audiology clinic will offer closer-to-home diagnostic and treatment options for local families," said Linda Reid, Minister of State for Child Care and MLA for Richmond-East. "Parents will no longer have to travel as far to access the audiology services their children need."

Families currently travel to Northern Health’s Northwest Audiology Program clinic in Terrace for most services. The Northwest regional audiologist provides outreach clinics to Prince Rupert two days each month and to the Queen Charlottes twice a year. These visiting clinics have not been able to offer full hearing assessment services for children under five.

“As a local audiology resource base, the new clinic in Prince Rupert will help to provide a greater range of integrated services for children of all ages, including diagnostic screening, assessment, and treatment," said Prince Rupert pediatrician Dr. Jeffrey Simons.

The new clinic will offer community and hospital based audiology services to a range of clients with an emphasis on infants, children and youth. The clinic program will include:

o Testing and assessment for hearing loss;
o Intervention services, including fitting of amplification devices such as hearing aids;
o Support, maintenance and repair of amplification devices; and
o Increased coordination with community and school-based child development programs.

“Our goal at Child Health BC is to ensure all BC kids have access to a consistent standard of pediatric care,” said Child Health BC executive director Dr. Robert Peterson. “Improving access to specialized audiology services for children in Northwestern BC takes us one step closer to attaining that goal.”

Prince Rupert Regional Hospital will be the home for the new clinic. Child Health BC’s funding will pay for a new hearing booth, file room, reception area and technical laboratory.

“Our society has been working with the community to raise funds towards this clinic for the past two years,” said Rick McChesney, president of the North Coast Health Improvement Society. “We’re very pleased that Child Health BC has stepped forward to make this project a reality, and we look forward to the purchase of other needed child and infant equipment.”

“The support of the community for this project has been tremendous,” said Jess Rainey, Northwest regional audiologist. “When this new clinic opens, we will be able to increase our level of service dramatically. I look forward to further helping local families in the region.”

Child Health BC is a network of health authorities and health-care providers dedicated to excellence in the care of infants, children and youth in British Columbia. Initiated by BC Children’s Hospital (an agency of the Provincial Health Services Authority), Child Health BC was launched in January 2007 after receiving a $20-million pledge from the Overwaitea Food Group.