Early identification of hearing loss is the first step in treating hearing loss in children. And the Lions Children's Hearing Center in Minneapolis, Minnesota, is a definitive, multidisciplinary center that offers diagnosis and a full range of treatments to take the next step.
Comprehensive
The Minnesota Lions Hearing Foundation voted in 2004 to commit more than $920,000 over five years to establish the Lions Children's Hearing Center. We held our first clinic in early 2006. At our hearing center, a family can see up to six specialty doctors in one setting in one day. These doctors include:
Audiologists
Ear, Nose, & Throat Specialists
Neuropsychologists
Speech-Language Pathologists
Infectious Disease Specialists
Geneticists
Once the child and their family leave the center, our professionals use a team approach to determine what course of treatment will be sought.
Education
The Lions Children's Hearing Center also serves as an educational resource for those who work with hearing-impaired children, and as a research center for pediatric hearing disorders. There is no other such comprehensive center in the upper Midwest.
Hearing Aid Loaner Program
Minnesota Lions Hearing Foundation established the Lions Hearing Aid Loaner Bank, providing pediatric hearing aids free of charge to infants who are newly identified with hearing loss. This much-appreciated service allows babies to hear sounds immediately while their parents organize the considerable financial resources necessary and the family and medical team devise and implement a treatment plan.
Similarly, the Lions Children's Hearing Center provides hearing aids free of charge to cancer patients treated at the University Hospital-Fairview. Hearing loss can be an unfortunate side effect of cancer treatment.
