Will County Health Department celebrates 50 years of vision and hearing screening

JOLIET -- The Will County Health Department’s vision and hearing program will celebrate 50 years of providing screenings to the community with an open house on Friday, Aug. 26.

The program’s golden anniversary will be noted with a reception from 1 to 3 p.m. Friday in the Administrative Conference Room.

For at least 50 years, vision and hearing technicians from the Will County Health Department have been screening children in schools, preschools and daycare centers to identify children in need of an examination by an eye doctor or physician.

Early discovery and treatment can prevent and/or alleviate many learning problems; this screening is the fastest and most economical manner of detecting possible problems in preschoolers and school-aged children. Technicians also screen adults from Cornerstone and Trinity Services.

Last year WCHD vision and hearing technicians screened 13,000 children’s vision and referred more than 700 for further evaluation. They screened 17,000 children’s hearing and referred 108 for further evaluation.

Will County Health Department’s Executive Director Susan Olenek said, “This program has touched the lives of hundreds of thousands of children in this county over its 50-plus year span.

“I remember being screened myself in grade school and it was a very positive experience.”

The Administrative Conference Center is in the main office at 501 Ella Ave. For more about this and other Health Department programs, go to www.willcountyhealth.org.