Center celebrates 20 years at Cape Girardeau location

The employees at the Miracle-Ear Center in Cape Girardeau have a lot to celebrate this year.

The center is celebrating its 20-year anniversary at its current location. The business also learned recently that it has been awarded membership in the Miracle-Ear Platinum Club, a distinction for franchises that excel in areas of dispensing, education, market penetration, and customer satisfaction, according to Joyce Hill Cooley, a National Board Certified hearing instrument specialist, registered nurse and co-owner of the local center.

Hill Cooley found out about the distinction in a phone call from Paul Erickson and Bob Walber. Erickson is the president of Miracle-Ear, and Walber is the president of Amplifon USA.

"The award is a competition between Miracle-Ear franchises and is monitored on a monthly basis," said Hill Cooley. "We knew we were in the running, but final results are not published until the middle of January."

The Miracle-Ear Center began as an expansion of the St. Louis Miracle-Ear franchise 20 years ago.

Hill Cooley says that the center uses a family-centered approach to support those patients and families that deal with hearing loss.

"Hearing loss is a family problem, affecting all of the loved ones involved with a family member suffering from hearing loss," said Hill Cooley.

"When we help an individual with hearing loss we become part of that family for years to come. We appreciate the trust and responsibility we are given by each of the patients we help."

Since the Miracle-Ear Center in Cape opened in Cape Girardeau, the business has expanded to include full-time facilities in Farmington and Perryville. Satellite offices are now open at Jackson Medical Center and Ste. Genevieve Memorial Hospital.

Local service centers are also in Bollinger, Scott, Cape Girardeau, Perry, Ste. Genevieve, and St. Francis counties. All are part of the franchise owned by Ken and Lisa Swinford and Hill Cooley.

Among the different facilities, Miracle-Ear employs four full-time Missouri state-licensed hearing instrument specialists. Three of the specialists are National Board Certified, and two of them are registered Missouri Hearing Instrument Supervisors.

The Miracle-Ear Center offers audiometric hearing tests, hearing aid fittings, repairs on all makes of hearing aids, assistive listening devices and custom ear molds.

The center also offers discounts to senior citizens, veterans and AARP members.

The Miracle-Ear Center is open from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday. Appointments are preferred, but the center accepts walk-ins. Appointments are required for evening or Saturday visits.

The business is located at 1465 N. Kingshighway in Cape Girardeau.