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KINGSTON — Having good hearing is important in so many aspects of life — work, school, socialization and, not least of all, personal safety. Family Hearing Center has earned the confidence of Times Leader readers when it comes to ensuring they can hear the important things in their lives.
With offices in Kingston and Dallas and more than 100 years of combined experience between the four audiologists who work there, the practice has captured the Times Leader Readers’ Choice award for Best Hearing Aid Center for the third year in a row, earning it a platinum designation this year.
“We’ve been around the longest, that may account for some of it,” Robert Asby said of the trust level of patients.
In 1967, when Asby was director of the Department of Audiology at the Geisinger Medical Center in Danville, he established the first independent audiology practice in Pennsylvania with two physicians also formerly on the Geisinger staff. The group installed the latest in diagnostic hearing testing equipment to provide a series of firsts in comprehensive audiology care in northeastern Pennsylvania.
Robert Asby & Associates was the first audiology practice in the region to fit advanced technology hearing aids in a comprehensive audiology and medical setting. Other firsts include the addition of newborn hearing testing and the establishment of a center for Auditory Evoked Response testing at the Wilkes-Barre General Hospital.
Over the years, the practice changed locations, as well as names. It temporarily relocated to Wilkes-Barre General Hospital after the flood of 1972, and then moved to an adjacent medical arts building.
Dr. James Zeigler, the current owner, who was away at a seminar and unable to participate in an interview, joined the practice in 1987. Robert Asby & Associates eventually became Asby & Zeigler Audiology, and the group was the first audiology practice to fit computer programmable hearing aids in northeastern Pennsylvania.
Dr. Judith Johnston joined the team in 1997 and, three years later, the practice relocated to the current offices at the Park Office Building on Third Avenue in Kingston and Twin Stacks Center on Memorial Highway in Dallas. Dr. Jill Knecht joined the practice in 2011 and the name was changed to Family Hearing Center.
Knecht believes the benefits of having four licensed audiologists working together adds to patient satisfaction.
“It allows us to schedule enough time for each patient, and that’s one of the reasons I like working here. We absolutely don’t schedule ourselves so that we’re rushed. We make sure that we have enough time to answer all the questions, to make sure the patients are comfortable,” Knecht said.
“One of the complaints we hear from other offices is that people are rushed in and out,” Asby added. “This is all hi-tech and there’s a lot to do and it takes time. And among the group we see everyone from infants to the elderly.”
“That’s one of the reasons we changed the name to Family Hearing Center,” Knecht continued. “We want people to know that if we’re seeing someone’s grandmother, we can also see their grandchild. We can do that all here and they can be comfortable with everyone seeing the same person.”
Johnston said “more personalized follow-up care” is another perk patients appreciate.
“It’s not like a one-size-fits-all hearing aid. We take into account everyone’s individual listening needs and then help them decide what type of hearing aid is best for them. We don’t just fit them and forget about our patients. We see them back for several follow-up visits to make sure things are working well, to make sure they’re comfortable,” Johnston said.
Asby said hearing aids are “miniaturized computers, so we interface them with our larger computer. And every hearing aid that comes out of this office is custom-fit to the person’s ear and to their hearing pattern, their hearing test results. That probably sets us apart. We really match the person and the instrument, and that’s what this equipment is all about.”
Johnston said audiology technology is constantly evolving, and the practice keeps up with acquiring the latest equipment to better serve patients.
For example, a device called New Ear allows the audiologists to place a microphone in a patient’s ear canal next to the ear drum, place the patient’s hearing aid on top of it, and get a read-out on a computer screen showing how well the hearing aid is actually working in the patient’s ear, Johnston explained.
“Things are changing all the time,” Knecht said. “You almost need an IT degree to keep up with it,” she added with a laugh.
