A spokesperson for Southern Health-Santé Sud says they are well prepared to launch the universal newborn hearing screening September 1st in the region.

Health Minister Kelvin Goertzen announced this week that screening will be available at 13 health care facilities across the province, including hospitals in Steinbach and Ste.Anne. The way it works, an active offer will be made to the parent or guardian to have their child screened for hearing loss. If the parent agrees, the baby will undergo a very short and simple hearing screening process.

"It's important to catch any kind of hearing loss in an infant early because early intervention we know is the best way to help the baby reach potential in terms of their speech and language development and their learning," says Jackie Derksen, Director of Rehabilitation Services for Southern Health-Santé Sud. "The earlier we can detect a congenital hearing loss in an infant, the earlier the audiologist and other professionals can begin their work with that baby."

Derksen says some funding from Manitoba Health allowed the regional health authority to purchase some screening devices and equipment for audiologists. And in fact, a soft launch has already happened at hospitals in Steinbach and Ste.Anne.

"We've been doing a soft launch through the summer, just to begin the process and work out some of the kinks in the process," says Derksen. "It actually has been going very well, our processes are in place and we're really pleased."

She says they expect the go-live date of September 1st will be a continuation of what has been happening this summer.

The province is targeting facilities that have greater than 75 births per year. Infants born at home or in facilities with fewer than 75 births per year will be referred to the nearest outpatient hearing centre for screening.

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