SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. — Living in the Lake Tahoe Basin often exposes individuals to an outdoor lifestyle with adventurous amenities at one’s fingertips. While adventurous hobbies are at the forefront of living in Lake Tahoe — quality, specialized healthcare is often overseen.

Tahoe Family Hearing Clinic, opened in September 2022 and offers comprehensive, collaborative, and individualized hearing healthcare to pediatric, including neonatal and infants, and adult patients. They provide state-of-the-art audiological services to diagnose and manage patients with hearing loss using evidence-based practices.

Dr. Jenelle Sandy, Au.D, CCC-A, and Tahoe Family Hearing Clinic’s Office Manager and Jenelle’s husband, Robert Sandy, are working towards effectively bridging the gap for Lake Tahoe locals to see a qualified audiologist, without having to leave the Tahoe Basin.

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Majoring in communications disorders for her undergraduate degree, Jenelle was presented with the decision to go either the speech pathology route or the audiology route early on in her career.

“I loved audiology for the simple fact that I was able to work with people face to face and have that special, social interaction,” Jenelle said. “It’s also great being able to work with technology advancements, so I’m never complacent in the job, there’s always something new to learn. Being able to combine both factors was important to me.”

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After making the decision to study audiology, Jenelle received her Doctorate degree from the University of North Carolina in Audiology, specializing in pediatrics. Years after working in the professional field on the east coast and midwest, the Sandy’s moved to South Lake Tahoe several years ago to indulge in an outdoor lifestyle that Lake Tahoe has to offer.

Upon moving to South Lake Tahoe, the Sandy’s quickly realized that while there is specialized care for most human health needs, accessible hearing care was sorely lacking. Which ultimately brought Tahoe Family Hearing Clinic to the map.

“We wanted to bring accessibility to the Lake Tahoe community,” Jenelle said. “When we moved here, at first, I wasn’t working, and I missed being in the clinic and helping those in need. The more people I was talking with locally in the area, the more they were saying how far everyone must travel for simple care. It quickly became evident that we needed something here.”

Filling a niche for Lake Tahoe, Tahoe Family Hearing Clinic proactively works towards bringing personalized, quality hearing health care to the local community.

“We formalized our mission to deliver professional, quality hearing health care through evidence-based best practices for pediatrics through geriatrics,” Robert said. “Jenelle is very guided by the belief that everyone should have access to preventative and therapeutic services related to hearing health.”

While Jenelle specifically studied pediatrics, Tahoe Family Hearing Clinic provides hearing health services to all ages and all levels of hearing impairment.

“Regardless of age, any level of hearing impairment is important, and Jenelle understands that there are various forms of hearing loss that can inhibit one’s individual growth,” Robert said.

“Providing hearing health solutions can drastically improve one’s quality of life.”

Jenelle further elaborates that Tahoe Family Hearing Clinic isn’t just for hearing loss, but also a safe, comfortable space that provides effective solutions to evolving and ongoing hearing health issues.

“Most people don’t come in to see an audiologist until they realize years later that they cannot hear very well,” Jenelle said. “There’s an ongoing stigma with hearing aids that they’re for the elderly and constantly whistling, but from birth, individuals get their hearing checked, and it should be consistent through our lifetime. It’s not just hearing aids, but it’s staying ahead of the curve to provide proactive solutions to those experiencing any difficulty.”

While Tahoe Family Hearing Clinic opened several months ago, they are passionate to continue to grow and be a valuable resource to the Lake Tahoe community locals as well as healthcare professionals moving forward.

“Using each other to build each other up is an incredibly important fundamental to Tahoe Family Hearing Clinic,” Jenelle said. “We’ve started doing ‘lunch and learns’ with other local physicians in town to introduce ourselves and our business and to let them know that were here as a resource. Because this community hasn’t had access to specialty care like this, many physicians continue to refer out rather than within our community, and we want to make those connections to bridge the gap for locals to get quality care where they live.”

Tahoe Family Hearing Clinic is located 2074 Lake Tahoe Blvd. Suite 9, in South Lake Tahoe.

For more information, visit tahoefamilyhearing.com.