Newborn Hearing Screening Renewal

Since October 2015 Earbus Foundation has provided Newborn Hearing Screening (NBHS) in the state’s private maternity hospitals under contract to the WA Department of Health through the Child and Adolescent Health Service (CAHS). In total Earbus has screened just under 47,000 neonates and we can expect to screen our 50,000th baby in the not too distant future.

Now, in partnership with CAHS, we are pleased to have been contracted to continue that important service for another 12 months until September 2022. The private screening program runs in 5 St John of God Hospitals in Perth and regional WA and two Ramsay Hospitals at Joondalup and Glengarry.

WA was the first Australian state to trial NBHS back in 1997 with 5 pilot hospitals across both public and private sectors. It was an initiative led by Earbus Patron, Professor Harvey Coates AO who later worked with now Earbus CEO Paul Higginbotham to introduce screening into WA’s private maternity hospitals in 2005.