03/03/17
HAYS, Kan. -- The fifth of six free hearing screenings to be held across western Kansas by Fort Hays State University graduate students will be offered in Hugoton.

The screening will be from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Friday, March 10, at the Stevens County Hospital Specialty Clinic, 1006 S. Jackson. No appointment is necessary. Screenings will be conducted on a first-come, first-served basis.

Screenings, sponsored by the Kansas Masons, are provided by graduate students from the Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders and the FHSU Herndon Clinic.

"The FHSU Herndon Clinic in the Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders is very fortunate to have recently received a grant from the Kansas Masons to support adult speech, language and hearing services in western Kansas," said Marcy Beougher, speech-language pathologist and an instructor in the department.

Each site will have four stations, each station with an FHSU graduate student providing screenings, supervised by Beougher. Screenings will take approximately 15-20 minutes.

"The screenings have provided excellent clinical experience for our students and have also been a great service for the public," said Beougher.

"Not being able to hear effectively has been shown to lead to isolation and depression, so this truly is a very important service. We sincerely appreciate the Kansas Masons for sponsoring these free screenings for the communities of western Kansas," she said.

A record number of screenings was reached in the last location, Hill City, with more than 70 screenings provided.

Beougher and Kori Haberman, communication sciences and disorders graduate assistant, are organizing the screenings.

The final screening is scheduled for Goodland.

For more information, visit fhsu.edu/herndon-clinic/ or contact the FHSU Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders at 785-628-5366.