A Veteran’s mission to support others with hearing aids

In 2023, the most commonly recognized service-connected disability for Veterans was tinnitus, and the second common was hearing loss. Almost 3,000,000 Veterans had tinnitus and 1,500,000 suffered from hearing loss.

When Army Vietnam Veteran Richard John Tiley's wife passed away in 2022 from cancer, he found himself dedicating much of his time to bringing Veterans to the Wilmington VA for health care services. Most of these Veterans needed to visit the Audiology Department for assistive listening devices or hearing aids.

Audiology providers at Wilmington VA are trained in hearing evaluations, hearing aid fitting and repair, assessment of auditory processing disorders, vestibular assessment and tinnitus management. They work closely with hearing aid manufacturers to ensure Veterans have access to the latest technology and can obtain and maintain their assistive devices.

Found Veterans on the farm

To keep himself busy while he grieved, Tiley (pictured above) worked on a masonry farm. Veterans would come to the farm hard of hearing. "I ask anyone that is having problems hearing if they served," he said.

He found many Veterans this way, including an 83-year-old Veteran who could barely hear. Through VA, he got his hearing aids within a month. Another Veteran Tiley found was denied VA health care 30 years ago, but when he reapplied he found that he did, in fact, qualify for health care. He brought these Veterans to Wilmington VA to get signed up for care and be seen by the audiology team.

The Wilmington Department of Audiology and Speech Pathology is home to seven audiologists, two audiology technicians and one speech-language pathologist. This team works together to ensure Veterans have the tools they need to communicate effectively, participate fully in their health care, enjoy fulfilling social lives and achieve their professional goals.

"She knows what she is doing."

Tiley contacted his provider about hearing aids in 2021 through My HealtheVet. Audiologist Dr. Kelly Flaherty recommended an appointment to have his hearing re-evaluated and to discuss any concerns.

"I'm here to provide the best care possible," said Flaherty. "I want my patients to be heard, leave each time more knowledgeable than the next and are afforded the opportunity of improving their hearing health care."

"She has a very pleasant disposition," Tiley said. "She knows what she is doing. These are the best hearing aids I've ever had."

In 2023, more than 4,000 hearing aids were ordered through the Wilmington VA, and 2,160 new Veterans were seen.

Wilmington VA speech-language pathologists serve at the Wilmington VA, Dover Clinic and Vineland Clinic, in addition to tele-audiology services at the Georgetown, Cape May and Northfield Clinics.

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