Audiology Hearing Clinic
About Our Clinic
The Speech-Language and Hearing Clinics at Western operate on a donation-based, no-fee clinic model which allows a diagnostic freedom that we otherwise wouldn't have with billing and the restrictions of insurance reimbursement. The no-fee clinic also increases our patient access. Because we don't use billing as a revenue generator, there are so many community needs that the clinic can meet. Our patients are served by graduate student clinicians, under the supervision of a clinical Audiologist, and have many more opportunities to explore a wider range of diagnostic and treatment services, but these opportunities also rely on the support of our community members. We appreciate any consideration from our patients or the community in supporting the Clinics and the Hearing Aid Bank Program’s efforts to assist community members in need and provide the best technology to our clients.
What We Do
The clinic provides Audiology graduate students with diverse and unique experiences to transform their future clinical practice, influence their professions, and improve the lives of those living with communication disorders.
We serve patients of all ages, backgrounds, and abilities by offering comprehensive service programs for the community. Faculty, clinical educators, and supervised students share their clinical expertise in our on-site clinic and various offsite facilities. The Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders provides over 6000 hours of clinical services annually to people in the Bellingham and Whatcom County community.
New Clients and Appointments
We always accept referrals for new clients. However, because we are a training facility operating on the academic calendar, we have limited appointments compared to most clinics. As a result, our wait times for services can be long. Clients are added to the waitlist once we receive all necessary paperwork.
Policy on providing equal opportunity and prohibiting illegal discrimination
Policy POL-U1600.02 applies to all employees, students, clients, agents, groups, individuals and organizations who use University facilities and other members of the University community to the extent provided by law. Federal and state statutes prohibit discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, national origin, disability, status as a Vietnam era or disabled veteran, creed and marital status. Western Washington University and a Governor’s Executive Order also prohibit discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation. The Western Washington University Speech Language Hearing Clinic pledges to make every reasonable effort to implement this policy.