You heard it right--Dr. Gyl Kasewurm of
Professional Hearing Services in St. Joseph has literally rolled out a new approach to hearing health care. Dr. Kasewurm, who has been practicing audiology for 30 years in southwest Michigan, launched The Hearing Bus to help audiology patients in rural communities thought to be under served.
According to the National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders (NIDCD), about 36 million (or 17 percent) of American adults report some degree of hearing loss. About two to three of every 1,000 children in the U.S. are also born deaf or hard-of-hearing.
"The Hearing Bus is an example of the ever-expanding mobile services industry," Dr. Kasewurm says. "You can’t come to us? No problem, we’ll come to you."
Her state-of-the-art mobile clinic is the first of its kind in the area, and an innovative way to extend her practice’s comprehensive care to those unable to travel to St. Joe. Once owned by race car driver Richard Petty, The Hearing Bus was refurbished at Creative Mobile Interiors in Ohio.
"They’re experts and had done a coach for CNN that was on [the Travel Channel’s] Extreme RVs," she says. "They transformed our bus into a comfortable, fully equipped audiology center on wheels."
Specifically designed to offer mobile diagnostic hearing tests and hearing aid services, The Hearing Bus treats patients to all the comforts of home, from warm cookies to free wifi. Along with providing patient-friendly services to people living in more remote locations, the vehicle is also a traveling billboard, spreading and raising awareness of hearing health. (Only one out of five people who could benefit from a hearing aid actually wears one.)
Currently, The Hearing Bus rolls into Allegan (Blessed Sacrament Catholic Church, 110 North Cedar Street) on Tuesdays and Niles (Great Lakes Eye Care, 120 Long Lake Meadow Village) on Thursdays. Dr. Kasewurm has future plans to take the bus to health fairs, festivals, and even tailgate parties to get the word out about the importance of healthy hearing.
Dr. Kasewurm started Professional Hearing Services in 1983. Her practice now includes 13 employees, two of whom run The Hearing Bus. Professional Hearing Services offers access to the latest hearing and balance testing, hearing aids, therapy for tinnitus (a chronic ringing, roaring, clicking, or hissing sound in the ears), and LACE (an interactive computerized training program that helps improve ear-to-brain muscle memory).
A doctor of audiology (AuD), Dr. Kasewurm earned her master’s degree from Western Michigan University and her doctoral degree from Central Michigan University. In 2006, she was honored with a Distinguished Achievement Award by the American Academy of Audiology.
For an appointment or more information on The Hearing Bus, visit hearingaidbus.com, or call 888.204.4327. You can also find the bus schedule by following The Hearing Bus on Facebook or Twitter@hearingbus.
Amie Heasley is a freelance writer who lives in Portage.
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