Accessible Amplification for All: An MSHC and Church Health Initiative

The Memphis Speech and Hearing Center (MSHC) provides a wide range of services to people from all backgrounds. Since June 2021, the MSHC has worked with Church Health Center to provide hearing assessments for community members in need at no cost to the patient. This relationship with Church Health Center was initiated by Dr. Casandra Banks, an audiologist at MSHC who is devoted to providing quality care for every patient who walks into the clinic. MSHC’s practice manager, Dr. Hannah Beth Scott notes that Dr. Banks has made an impact on so much of the Memphis community by initiating this agreement. Patients have come in with many degrees of hearing loss and walk out with appropriately fitted devices, allowing them access to sounds that they may have been missing for many years.

Church Health Center provides Memphians facing social and/or economic barriers with high-quality healthcare. Church Health also provides patients with educational resources, such as a 5 Minute Hearing Test Handout, to increase awareness and hearing health literacy. When patients need hearing or vestibular services, Church Health providers send a referral to MSHC for further evaluation and support. A generous donor’s support to MSHC, along with a hearing aid manufacturer’s beneficence, allows the clinic to purchase hearing aids that can be given to patients who are referred from Church Health Center.  

Although the contract with Church Health provides patients with one assessment and one hearing aid device, it became clear that many patients needed two devices, Dr. Banks noted that many patients put off seeking managed care due to financial constraints. By the time they came to MSHC, they often presented with severe hearing loss that was better managed with two devices than with a single device.  

To help patients surmount the cost of purchasing multiple hearing aids, every Church Health patient is now automatically enrolled in the MSHC Client Assistance Program (CAP) with 80% discounted service fees/rates. The CAP program, sponsored by the MSHC Board of Directors and donor funds, makes it easier for Church Health patients to afford additional devices or services. Dr. Banks loves working with her Church Health patients. They are truly kind individuals who have taught her lessons that have shaped her clinical practice. Her patients are often people who work hard and are still unable to afford services without help. Being able to provide accessible services fills her with a sense of pride as she helps people regain a sense of autonomy and choice in how they navigate life with a disability. She helps people maintain their dignity as they receive medical support that has been out of reach for many years.

The partnership with Church Health is currently one of MSHC’s major outreach programs. Dr. Scott reflected, “We are very proud of this partnership and the relationships we have made with our patients and the providers at Church Health along the way.” She hopes to expand the accessibility of services to other free clinics around the Mid-South, allowing students the opportunity to serve these underrepresented patients. 

If you would like to increase MSHC’s capacity to offer services to our neighbors in need, you can make a donation to our Client Assistance Program.