FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                           

For more information, contact:

The University of Tennessee Health Science Center

Sheila Champlin – (901) 448-4957, schampli@uthsc.edu

 

 

Child Hearing Services Program at

The University of Tennessee Health Science Center

Receives $10,000 from Safeco Insurance

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Memphis, Tenn. (January 9, 2012) –Safeco Insurance has donated $10,000 to help the Department of Audiology and Speech Pathology Child Hearing Services Program at the University Of Tennessee Health Science Center (UTHSC) continue its mission of treating hearing-impaired children. The Audiology and Speech Pathology Department is part of the UTHSC College of Allied Health Sciences. The department is located on the UTHSC Knoxville Campus.

In business since 1923 and based in Seattle, Wash., Safeco sells insurance to drivers and homeowners through a network of independent agents and brokers in eight regions throughout the United States.  The company sent the donation in honor of 6-month-old Emerson Grace Doty, the granddaughter of one of its employees and a participant in the Child Hearing Services (CHS) Program.

“When we were informed by Safeco Insurance that their desire was to donate money in honor of Emerson Grace, we were elated,” said Jesse and Cristin Doty, Emerson’s parents.  “Safeco even gave us the opportunity to help choose where to donate the money so that it would be most beneficial.  We had just learned that Emerson had been identified as a perfect candidate for cochlear implants, but we knew the success of these implants would be determined by her therapy because of the amazing results we have been able to witness in the children who are participating in the CHS program.”

Emerson will receive her first cochlear implant at 10 months of age, with the second one following six months later.

Child Hearing Services provides treatment for hearing-impaired infants, toddlers, preschoolers, and school-aged children and their families.  Special emphasis is placed on early intervention and family education/counseling.

“CHS provides wonderful treatment and education to many hearing-impaired children and their parents,” said Noma Anderson, PhD, dean of the College of Allied Health Sciences.  “This donation from Safeco Insurance allows CHS to expand the breadth and depth of what they'll be able to provide.”

Currently, CHS provides services for more than 85 children on a weekly basis with more than half of those enrolled having a cochlear implant.  The children range in age from birth to 21 years of age with most children being between birth and 10 years of age. The comprehensive program incorporates audiological services, communication evaluations, and aural rehabilitation services. The objectives of this program are to develop spoken language skills through listening and for each child to have speech/language, social and academic skills commensurate with their peers.

As the flagship statewide academic health system, the mission of the University of Tennessee Health Science Center is to bring the benefits of the health sciences to the achievement and maintenance of human health, with a focus on the citizens of Tennessee and the region, by pursuing an integrated program of education, research, clinical care, and public service.  In 2011, UT Health Science Center celebrated its centennial: 100 years advancing the future of health care.  Offering a broad range of postgraduate training opportunities, the main UTHSC campus is located in Memphis and includes six colleges: Allied Health Sciences, Dentistry, Graduate Health Sciences, Medicine, Nursing and Pharmacy.  The UTHSC campus in Knoxville includes a College of Medicine, College of Pharmacy, and an Allied Health Sciences unit.  In addition, the UTHSC Chattanooga campus includes a College of Medicine and an Allied Health Sciences unit.  Since its founding in 1911, UTHSC has educated and trained more than 53,000 health care professionals on campuses and in health care facilities across the state.  For more information, visit: www.uthsc.edu.

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