R. R. Branstrom | Daily Press Audiologist Megan Haas uses equipment at her practice in Escanaba to perform a diagnostic hearing test on a patient, who sits in an audiometric booth on the other side of the window.

EDITOR NOTE: The Daily Press will be featuring a series of articles on local businesses, highlighting their history and what makes them unique. The series will run on a regular basis in the Daily Press.

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ESCANABA — Dr. Megan Haas, the sole owner and audiologist at Haas Hearing, works at the east end of Escanaba’s downtown, diagnosing, treating, and guiding patients toward solutions for their hearing problems. She said that the business at 423 Ludington St., is dedicated to providing and improving care, and wants people to know that hearing aids don’t need to be expensive.

After graduating with a Doctorate of Audiology from Central Michigan University in 2013, Haas immediately began working in Escanaba, first for another private practice and then at the hospital. She said that in 2020, it became clear that changes needed to be made.

Seven years operating in town had allowed Dr. Haas to grow a patient base, so although Haas Hearing only opened in September of 2020, the practice currently has about 2,000 patients, from pediatric to geriatric.

After a hearing test for diagnostics, a patient can expect the doctor to help them find a tailored treatment plan, “whether that just be counseling, communication strategies, or hearing aids,” said Haas. “We’re able to either guide you in the right direction of where to go if we can’t provide the services, or provide the treatments here.”

The issues seen are as varied as the day, but nothing that can’t be addressed.

“We see people with traditional, age-related hearing loss,” Haas began to list. “We see people with sudden hearing loss — those are people who wake up in the morning and their hearing is just gone. We see patients with what’s called auditory spectrum disorder, which is you can physically hear but your brain is just not processing.”

Some hearing loss damage is caused by gunfire or loud machinery, so Haas says she’s seen a lot of hunters, farmers, and mill workers, but also children — “more than we want to see,” admitted the doctor. “We do see a lot of kids, and then we see a lot of middle-aged people, which is awesome that they’re willing to accept it younger and want to treat it younger.”

On average, she explained, it takes three years after a diagnosis for a person to decide to do something about their hearing loss.

“Sometimes people just aren’t ready for hearing aids, so we’ll just kind of educate them on what hearing loss is, how to prevent more hearing loss and what strategies to do to help you in the meantime,” said Haas. “That could be purchasing a TV unit so that you can hear the TV better, or that could be teaching your loved ones how to talk properly to you, how to sit in a restaurant to hear the best way possible.”

In addition to treating individuals, Haas Hearing is sometimes hired by businesses to do occupational screenings — annual tests of their staff.

Most patients come to Haas from around the U.P., but they do see some people who travel longer distances, in part because they do government contracts. Not many places are able to fulfill those needs for compensation and pension.

“If, say, they got hearing loss in the military, they have to go to a non-VA clinic to have an unbiased hearing test,” said Haas. “We also do VA community care. So if a veteran can’t get or doesn’t want to drive to the VA in Iron Mountain, they can come here.”

They also do custom molds for ear protection for musicians, swimmers and hunters.

“A lot of people won’t wear hearing protection when they’re hunting … (but) they do make it so that it does protect you from the gunshot but you can still hear the deer and people talking,” Haas said.

After onset of any type of hearing issue, tests are recommended every year.

“If you go too long without updating your prescription in your hearing aid, then it’s like wearing earplugs; they’re not helping you,” said Haas. “So we want a new hearing test, and then you just adjust your current hearing aid so that they’re always exactly how they need to be.”

Adjustments are fairly cheap and allow people to hear clear, crisp sounds, said Haas, adding that and one thing she wishes people would realize is that they can stop overpaying for hearing aids.

One plan they’ve been working on at Haas Hearing is for an after-hours drop box system, where patients can drop off their hearing aids for repairs. Fixes can often be quite quick; Haas said that when the office is open, they can sometimes get people in and out in ten minutes.

They are also working on expanding their pediatric capabilities and expect to have more equipment soon.

On owning her own business, Haas said that she appreciates not being held to a quota, and is able to work on things to make her clinic better.

Haas Hearing is open from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday through Thursday.