On Jan. 26, East Tennessee State University opened a new audiology clinic at the Marshall T. Nave Center in Elizabethton. The clinic is operated by the ETSU College of Clinical and Rehabilitative Health Sciences. The clinic provides affordable care through real world experience for students. The new clinic is directed by Dr. Saravanan Elangovan.
“As a non-profit university health center, our mission is to provide comprehensive diagnostic, rehabilitative and intervention services that improve the quality of life for individuals with hearing loss and related audiological disorders and to treat communication disorders impacting an individual’s ability to understand and relate to others,” said Dr. Saravanan Elangovan in a press release.
The clinic provides a variety of services on a sliding-fee discount program. Services include: comprehensive audiology evaluations for all ages including newborns, testing and customized fitting of the latest hearing aid technology and cochlear implants, auditory processing evaluations for school-aged children, tinnitus management, monitoring of auditory status of patients undergoing chemotherapy and more.
The clinic’s placement in Elizabethton will further impact ETSU on affordable care in the region. Audiology services in the area will hopefully be further developed by the hands-on training the clinic will provide students with a concentration in health care. Students will be able to provide basic audiological services under the direct supervision of ETSU faculty in a setting that prioritizes clinical instruction.
According to the press release about the clinic opening, Dr. Saravanan Elangovan said, “We aim to integrate clinical research and service delivery, and serve as an exemplary model of clinical instruction for students pursuing careers in audiology and speech-language pathology.”
ETSU has several more clinics that offer uncompensated care on a sliding-fee discount program. The clinic is now accepting new patients and accepts most insurance plans. For more information about the clinic, call 423-439-4355 or visit www.etsu.edu/caslp.
