Hearing is believing

New center offers latest technology in audiology

MOSES LAKE — Walter Horan was going to follow in his agricultural roots.

His family had a warehouse and apple and pear orchards, and Horan attended school with the intent to eventually take over the family business.

But Horan took a course in sign language.

"It just felt right," he recalled. "Once I started learning more about hearing impairment, deafness and that area, it just became so interesting that I knew at that point I wanted to learn more and work with people that have hearing impairment or deafness."

Horan opened the Horan Hearing and Balance Center in Moses Lake in mid-October. Born and raised in the Wenatchee area, he began his career as an audiologist with the Wenatchee Valley Medical Center and with the Moses Lake Clinic, providing services in both areas, and serving as a visiting specialist in Moses Lake for about nine years.

"The main reason was the lack of audiology services in the area based on what I was looking at," Horan said. "Most people for specialty services were sent either to Tri-Cities, Spokane or Wenatchee."

That doesn't include hearing instruments, which were being provided in the area, but testing for newborns and some balance specialties were being referred to other areas.

Now, Horan said, people are coming in from throughout the central part of the state, including Mattawa, Ritzville, Othello and the Coulees. The center can provide all of the service needs, including newborn and pediatric programs and testing services otherwise available in Seattle and Spokane.

The center provides a warm, comfortable atmosphere for people who haven't necessarily had a lot of answers, he said.

"A lot of what people know about hearing loss and balance problems are things that they've heard from others that have experienced the problems," he said. "We try and inform people as much as we can and also give them the opportunity to experience the services in a situation that's as comfortable as possible."

When an ear develops from the embryological stage, the first part that develops is the vestibular, or balance, part of the ear, followed by the cochlear, or hearing part.

"The primary function of the inner ear would be to establish balance and equilibrium," Horan said. "The secondary function would be the ability to hear."

The center works to educate people on how to prevent problems in the inner ear before they develop.

"People ask, 'When do you start losing your hearing?'" Horan said. "And it really starts the day you're born, because it's an organ that just gradually does deteriorate in its ability to function."

Other factors like heredity, environment or injury can also play a part.

Horan said he sees about 30 to 40 percent of patients for balance-related issues with the remainder being hearing, including a number of children. Balance has become a great deal of interest to the profession, as a great deal of balance problems are surfacing with aging.

"It's one of the most spoken about complaints when you go see your primary physician," Horan said.

Most of what the center does is counseling and explaining to people what the problem is and how it can be helped, as well as giving realistic expectations, Horan said.

"Being able to provide a full array of audiology services to the community has been gratifying to me," he said. "I enjoy being able to do that."