UNC Health Lenoir is excited to announce a new service coming to our area as a result of our partnership with UNC Health. The UNC Health Mobile Hearing and Speech Clinic will visit the area to provide hearing and speech language services for children. The goal of the Mobile Speech and Hearing Clinic is to ensure that all children have access to critical diagnostic audiology and speech language pathology services. The clinic will focus on reaching children in rural areas and vulnerable populations.

“UNC Health is proud to provide important hearing and speech services for children across North Carolina,” said Dr. Wendell Yarbrough, Chair of the Department of Otolaryngology/Head and Neck Surgery at UNC School of Medicine. “This ‘clinic on wheels’ is another way we’re working to improve access and care for all North Carolinians.”

Hearing loss impacts up to three out of every 1,000 children with potentially devasting effects on a child’s communication skills and educational development. Children living in rural areas experience more pronounced negative health and developmental consequences related to hearing loss because of limited access to care.

Like many health conditions early treatment for hearing loss, including specialized testing after a failed newborn screening, is vital. Yet there is limited availability of this testing by those qualified to treat children in rural areas, which puts this population of children at a significant disadvantage.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 35.1 percent of children born in North Carolina in 2021 who failed their newborn hearing screening were lost to follow up or could not be reached. A comprehensive diagnostic evaluation with a pediatric audiologist is crucial to timely care following a failed hearing screening. This staggering statistic places North Carolina in the bottom half of all states securing diagnostic testing needed after a failed newborn hearing screen.

“The mobile unit’s presence at UNC Health Lenoir helps ensure accessibility for patients in Kinston and the surrounding areas that would otherwise have to travel out of town for some of these services.” said Jaime Harrison, Director of UNC Health Lenoir’s Family Birth Center. “We will be working with our area pediatric and family medicine providers who will refer patients for these services. This will help ensure timely evaluation and quicker treatment for the patient.”

The mobile unit will be visible in our visitor’s parking lot and UNC Health Lenoir looks forward to working with the UNC Health team to continue our mission of offering exceptional care for the community we serve.