ANTIGONISH, N.S. — A new hearing clinic in Antigonish celebrated their start-up June 6 with a grand opening, open house event.
The day celebrating Rediscover Hearing’s opening included free hearing screening and demonstrations, as well as refreshments and a door prize opportunity.
Hearing instrument practitioner and owner Sarah MacDonald noted the official opening date was May 1.
“I was part of another business out of New Glasgow, I worked with them for 12 years, decided to branch out on my own and figured Antigonish was a good spot,” MacDonald said, adding the fact her husband, Morgan, is from Antigonish as another consideration.
The business is located at 70 St. Andrews Street (Unit A), in the professional centre.
“It’s accessible, that’s a big thing,” Sarah said, noting that’s especially important for her senior clientele. “Parking and accessibility are always keys for this type of business.
“And it’s close to everything, well-traveled, well-known; with Nova Lenses right next door – a similar type of business – it helps draw people, helps them to find us.”
Another plus was there were not a lot of renovations needed in the unit.
“Already, pretty much, set-up the way I needed it, just some minor renovations,” MacDonald said. “The space worked, the footprint was here, so it was just a matter of updating and bringing in the sound booth – that was the biggest item to come in. It was a fairly easy transition to set up.”
One of the demonstrations set-up for the open house was a computer program which allowed those with good hearing to get a sense of what problem hearing can be like.
“Where you can hear snippets of different situations, like a restaurant setting for example, and then play it again with a hearing loss and get to hear what someone who has a loss might hear, in the same situation,” MacDonald said.
“Just try and get people to understand because, sometimes, it’s hard for family, friends and neighbours to understand what that person is going through. ‘Why are you not listening to me … not paying attention to me?’ When it is they are, simply, not making them out; so just an understanding of what that is like.”
As for a motto or message, MacDonald said it’s about better hearing leading to more enjoyment in life.
“A lot of people tend to ignore their hearing,” she said. “We get our eyes checked, our overall well-being checked, but we sometimes forget about our hearing, and it’s very important to our lifestyle.
“So come in and have your hearing check; it’s a health issue we don’t always think about.”
