Here for You
We believe that every person deserves access to high-quality, compassionate care.
Our department participates in a variety of outreach activities, both locally and internationally. From free throat cancer screenings to providing care through the Hope Clinic and international medical mission trips, read more about how we strive to improve the lives of others in our community and around the world.
Every year, coinciding with Oral, Head and Neck Cancer Awareness Week, we partner with the Rogel Cancer Center to hold a free throat cancer screening event. The event also provides smoking cessation counseling and education about the causes of throat cancer.
Learn more about throat cancer care and treatment at Rogel Cancer Center
For decades, U-M faculty, staff and trainees have volunteered at the Hope Clinic in Ypsilanti to help serve thousands of people without health insurance. In 2010, following a proposal, in part, by otolaryngology faculty members Erin L. McKean, MD, MBA and Andrew G. Shuman, MD extensions of the Hope Clinic opened at the A. Alfred Taubman Healthcare Center and the Kellogg Eye Center.
Known as Hope at UMHS, these clinics are staffed by resident and staff volunteers and provide patients with advanced care not available at Hope Clinic’s main location. The program offers everything from audiograms, endoscopies, ear procedures, biopsies and excisions of cancerous lesions, and examinations of serious eye conditions. Hope at UMHS also provides a path for patients who need further care through University of Michigan Health System programs for uninsured patients.
Since 2010, our department has partnered with the Hope Clinic to provide subspecialty services for low-income residents in Washtenaw County through the Hope at UMHS Clinic. A significant number of patients seen at the clinic have hearing loss that would benefit from a hearing aid. However, the high out-of-pocket cost is often a barrier. To meet the needs of these patients, we established the Hope for Hearing hearing aid recycling program which allows us to collect gently used hearing aids and refurbish them for distribution in the Hope at UMHS Clinic.
How it Works: The Hope for Hearing program accepts hearing aids of any make or model, regardless of age. Behind-the-ear hearing aids in working condition are cleaned, refurbished and refitted.
Tax Benefits: All hearing aid donations are tax deductible. Donors receive a letter of acknowledgement for tax purposes. The program does not provide an appraisal of the value of any donations sent to the program.
Donate Hearing Aids: To donate hearing aids to the Hope for Hearing program, please package and mail them to:
Hearing Aid Donations
U-M Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery
1500 E. Medical Center Dr.
1904 Taubman Center, SPC 5312
Ann Arbor, MI 48109-5312
Monetary Donation: If you don’t have a hearing aid to donate, you can still help patients by making a monetary donation.
If you have questions about the Hope for Hearing program, please contact Greg Manarelli at [email protected].
Pediatric audiology at C.S. Mott Children’s Hospital sees hundreds of children with hearing loss, ranging in age from infancy to young adulthood. For children with permanent hearing loss, part of our role is to select, program and fit appropriate hearing aids. Our team typically works with insurance companies to obtain hearing aids. However, there can be constraints related to timing and model of hearing aids covered. Additionally, when hearing aids are lost, broken or no longer within the warranty period, there may be delays in getting hearing aids repaired or replaced.
Our Pediatric Audiology Hearing Aid and Assistive Devices Loaner Program provides children with long-term loaner devices when insurance companies do not cover the appropriate technology, or as short-term replacements when a device is damaged, new technology is needed or negotiation with insurance causes a delay. Devices are also used to demonstrate the difference that appropriate hearing aids can make in a child's life when parents, or in some cases schools, are reluctant to set aside significant resources for this equipment.
Donations are used to purchase and repair devices to help us continue to provide this valuable program.
To support children with hearing loss, their families, educators and professional through the state of Michigan, we have developed the Sound Support program. The Sound Support team is comprised of audiologists and auditory-verbal therapists/speech-language pathologists. It is our mission to coordinate a multi-modal approach to hearing health care for children who have been diagnosed with hearing loss.
The Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery is strong supporter of international medical outreach through patient care and training medical professionals in less resource intensive settings. Members of our faculty regularly travel to Ghana to train medical professionals at the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital and provide patient care. Residents also have the option to go as part of their training to enhance their clinical diagnostic and surgical skills, and gain exposure to global health care issues and their impact on patient care.
The Pediatric Hearing Aid Loaner Program provides children with short-term and long-term access to loaner hearing devices. Loaner devices are offered when there is a lack of coverage by the insurance company or the child’s own device is in need of repair.
The Hope for Hearing Program cleans and refurbishes hearing aids so that they can be provided to hearing impaired patients of the Hope Clinic. Donations to this program are used to fund the supplies required during this process.
