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Davis Hospital and Medical Center Wins Infant Hearing Screening Award From Utah Dept. of Health
March 29, 2010
The Utah Department of Health’s Early Hearing Detection and Intervention Program (EHDI) has awarded Davis Hospital and Medical Center with the Award of Excellence for the most well-managed, quality infant hearing screening program in an urban setting. This is the third year in a row that Davis Hospital has won this prestigious award.
Davis Hospital has gone above and beyond to ensure all infants born in their facility are properly screened for hearing loss, which is one of the nation’s most common birth defects. At Davis Hospital, these tests begin as early as 24 hours after birth. This ensures that infants with hearing loss are identified as early as possible, allowing doctors to take special measures to help an infant.
“Since two out of a thousand infants in Utah are born with a hearing loss, parents need to have their infants properly tested,” said Davis Hospital’s Chief Nursing Officer Debbie Sprague. “It’s critical that we determine early if a child has a hearing loss, because it dramatically impacts how a child functions and learns language.”
Without infant hearing screening programs like the one at Davis Hospital, the average age of detection of significant hearing loss is approximately 14 months. By that time, language development is already delayed. Meanwhile, those identified early can receive the special attention they need, typically resulting in the ability to perform at age-appropriate levels by the time they enter school.
In 2009, Davis Hospital tested 99.8 percent of babies in the nursery, and of those tested, 99 percent passed. The remaining .2 percent not tested were transferred to a different hospital, but 100 percent of outpatients were screened as well.
“We identified a total of four babies with hearing loss last year,” said Sprague. “Two of them have permanent hearing loss and now have hearing aids, while the other two infants have consistent, fluctuating conditions caused by fluid and are seeing an Ear Nose and Throat Specialist.”
Even though hearing screening is required under Utah law, some infants may go home before they have a chance to be tested or may be transferred to other hospitals for special circumstances. By doing the tests as early as 24 hours after birth, Davis Hospital has ensured that newborns get the screening they need.
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