Texas Hearing Institute and Texas Children’s Hospital Launch Pediatric Hearing Services Collaboration

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(HOUSTON, TX – Jan. 25, 2021) Today marks the first day of Texas Children’s Hospital and Texas Hearing Institute working alongside each other to provide a one-stop-shop in Greater Houston for children with hearing loss.

The goal of the collaboration is to provide exceptional care with a comprehensive, integrated, streamlined approach. Texas Children’s medical professionals, including Ear, Nose, and Throat (ENT) physicians and audiologists, are co-located in Texas Hearing Institute’s new state-of-theart building in the Texas Medical Center, where children receive specialized medical, clinical and educational services.

“As our work with Texas Hearing Institute officially begins today, we are thrilled to provide children across our area the opportunity to receive high-quality care in this collaborative environment,” says Dr. Anna Messner, Chief of Otolaryngology at Texas Children’s. “We are proud to expand the reach of our pediatric hearing services and further our shared goal of optimizing care for children with hearing loss.”

“Today is an exciting moment as we welcome Texas Children’s Hospital into our new facility in the Texas Medical Center. Having our combined services under one roof will greatly improve ease of access for families who also see Texas Children’s ENT physicians. This is a great step forward on our path of advancing care for children with hearing loss in the region,” says Texas Hearing Institute CEO, Kyle Swift.

Texas Hearing Institute plans to continue expanding the number of children it serves throughout Texas in the coming years. It will provide additional services to families by building upon the strong foundation of education, speech, and audiology it has developed over its 73- year history.

The details of services:

Texas Hearing Institute’s multidisciplinary team coordinates individualized care for children birth through age 18. Texas Hearing Institute currently serves children of all socioeconomic backgrounds from 36 counties, and offers services on a sliding scale fee basis for families without insurance, and families who cannot pay full tuition for the Melinda Webb School. Texas Hearing Institute employs nine of the fourteen Listening and Spoken Language Specialists currently practicing in the Greater Houston area, eleven master’s level speech-language pathologists, eleven master’s level teachers of the deaf, eight doctorate level pediatric audiologists, and three bilingual patient care coordinators.

In addition to providing care to children with hearing loss, Texas Children’s will treat children with other ear, nose and throat problems at this location. Texas Children’s Division of Otolaryngology is the largest program in the hospital’s Department of Surgery. Its faculty members have all completed fellowships in pediatric otolaryngology. Texas Children’s Hospital otolaryngology team evaluates and treats children from birth to 18 years of age who have common problems, as well as complex medical conditions of the ear, nose, throat, and head and neck. For more information, visit texaschildrens.org/ent.

About Texas Hearing Institute

The nationally renowned Texas Hearing Institute, formerly known as Center for Hearing and Speech, is the most comprehensive resource for pediatric hearing loss in Texas, and the only facility in the region that offers health services and spoken language education for children with hearing loss under one roof. Children from more than 36 counties and all socioeconomic levels come to Texas Hearing Institute, where no child is turned away regardless of their family’s ability to pay. For more information, visit www.texashearing.org and follow us on Facebook at facebook.com/texashearinginstitute.

About Texas Children’s Hospital

Texas Children’s Hospital, a not-for-profit health care organization, is committed to creating a healthier future for children and women throughout the global community by leading in patient care, education and research. Consistently ranked as the best children’s hospital in Texas, and among the top in the nation, Texas Children’s has garnered widespread recognition for its expertise and breakthroughs in pediatric and women’s health. The hospital includes the Jan and Dan Duncan Neurological Research Institute; the Feigin Tower for pediatric research; Texas Children’s Pavilion for Women, a comprehensive obstetrics/gynecology facility focusing on high-risk births; Texas Children’s Hospital West Campus, a community hospital in suburban West Houston; and Texas Children’s Hospital The Woodlands, the first hospital devoted to children’s care for communities north of Houston. The organization also created Texas Children’s Health Plan, the nation’s first HMO for children; has the largest pediatric primary care network in the country, Texas Children’s Pediatrics; Texas Children’s Urgent Care clinics that specialize in after-hours care tailored specifically for children; and a global health program that’s channeling care to children and women all over the world. Texas Children’s Hospital is affiliated with Baylor College of Medicine. For more information, go to www.texaschildrens.org. Get the latest news by visiting the online newsroom and Twitter at twitter.com/texaschildrens.