Country Hearing Care audiologist Nadia Pearn has been working over the past 12 months to bring the VCIP to Echuca.
“Last week I switched on the first cochlear implant in our clinic in Echuca, for a gentleman from Swan Hill, who had received his second cochlear implant,” Ms Pearn said.
“For the gentleman having his switch-on in Echuca, it meant that he didn’t have to travel to Melbourne for his aftercare.
“’Switch-on’ means that we connect the internal part of the cochlear implant with the external part and test that they are working together.”
“Over the next little while, we will work with the patient to remap how the device will work for him.
“He was very pleased to be able to hear with the second implant and that he didn’t have to travel to Melbourne for aftercare.
“In three weeks the gentleman will return to the clinic and we will connect the device to his phone, making things like phone calls and hearing the television easier for him.”
The Victorian Cochlear Implant Program is available to anyone who would normally go to Melbourne for the medical service. For Country Hearing Care Echuca this means anyone who needs help from Echuca, Moama and their surrounding areas.
“We only work with adults as children still need to go to Melbourne for treatment, as this is a specialised field,” Ms Pearn said.
“Anyone who thinks that their hearing aids are not working as well as they could, as in they can’t hear the TV properly or the phone, is welcome to come in for a discussion on whether a cochlear implant would be right for them.”
“You don’t need to be a current client of Country Hearing Care to talk to us about the service.
“People can come to us from a referral from a doctor, from another audiologist, or if they are already a client of ours and this is the next step in their hearing journey.
“Sometimes people think that they are too old for a referral and cochlear implant, but as long as someone is medically fit, it may be possible to undergo the procedure.
Country Hearing Care managing director Malcolm Comfort said that Cochlear and the Royal Victorian Eye and Ear Hospital came together at the end of 2021 to form the VCIP.
The VCIP is a membership program for audiologists from across Victoria interested in improving the care of their patients considering or currently using a cochlear implant.
“We took part in the VCIP in the hope to get this very much-needed service into the regions and we love being able to offer this to our communities,” Mr Comfort said.
“We have three audiologists, one in Mildura, Bendigo and Echuca working with the Eye and Ear hospital as part of this program.
“Patients will still have to travel to Melbourne to undergo the surgery, but their follow-up care can now be done in Echuca, as well as our other clinics.
“In the past people have had to travel to Melbourne to have this done, making it an up-to-12-hour journey for some of our patients.
“Now they can have their implant ‘switch-on’ in their own community, removing some of the cost and burden on them and making access to the service easier.
“We are very proud to be able to offer this in the local community, as it is important to get our patients to be able to hear better,” he said.
Country Hearing Care Echuca is hoping to hold a public information forum about the Victorian Cochlear Implant Program, and how they can help, before the end of the year for anyone that is interested in finding out more information.