Woman finds success running full-service audiology office

Clear Choice Hearing and Balance is paving the way for private, full-scope audiology with a first-of-its-kind pediatric audiology office suite located adjacent to its Greece location at 103 Canal Landing Blvd.

Founded by certified hearing instrument specialist Christine Tirk in 2008, the Canal Landing location has grown from a small, single unit to 4,000 square feet. Clear Choice also has a second office in Brighton at 1065 Senator Keating Blvd. in Westfall Surgery Center.

Tirk began her career in audiology with otolaryngologist Jules Musinger M.D. She graduated from the College at Brockport with a degree in psychology and went to work at a local juvenile detention center for troubled teens. During her tenure at OCFS-Industry Residential Center, Tirk observed the testing that the youth underwent. Many of the teens had speech impediments, and she was intrigued by all that an audiologist could learn and interpret about a person’s developmental and cognitive issues through methods like a hearing test.

Upon starting a family with her husband, Tirk decided it was best for her physical health to leave her post at OCFS-Industry Residential Center, which was when she made the leap into audiology working under Musinger. She began as a secretary, and soon enough Musinger recognized that she didn’t belong behind a desk and helped her become a certified hearing specialist.

When Musinger’s practice got purchased by a corporation from West Palm Beach, Fla., Tirk quickly realized that the corporate world was not for her and set out to open her own private full-scope audiology practice.

“I was the first private practice in Rochester to do balance and dizzy testing,” says Tirk. “Full-scope audiology is rare. People think hearing aids are the money maker, but it’s really not. Of course we diagnose all types of hearing loss. Tinnitus is huge for us here because we’re one of the few that are cutting edge with that, and we are vestibular specialists, which is balance and dizziness.”

At the outset of her practice, founded during the 2008 recession, Tirk had to be scrappy. With the support of her husband she took their savings and purchased used furniture and equipment like computers and audiometers to get Clear Choice off the ground. Tirk was confident in the high level of care that she provided to her patients, and her confidence was justified when clients came flooding in to her new practice. All it took was word of mouth and one ad in the newspaper.

Tirk, a Spencerport native and resident, is a staunch advocate for private practices, and competing with Rochester’s two corporate health care giants—Rochester Regional Health and University of Rochester Medical Center—has been a fierce challenge that she consistently overcomes.

“With a private practice comes autonomy for your patients, which is huge,” says Tirk. “We don’t have 15-minute blocks. If it’s a 30-minute appointment that ends up turning into an hour, that’s OK because we have four providers, so someone can pick up the slack when someone else is getting behind.”

Tirk’s team of 11, including four full-time audiologists, sees patients that range from newborn to geriatric. Clear Choice accepts all insurance plans, and Tirk and her team counsel patients who are on a budget. Her aim with the private practice is to provide not just a high level of care and treatment options but a safe setting for patients.

“Nobody wants to come in here from not feeling well, being dizzy or having ringing ears, and nobody wants to come in and find they have a hearing loss,” says Tirk. “But you have to make it a safe and happy environment. We’re a place where if you come in with a problem, it’s going to get solved. We’re going to follow through with the treatment plan one way or the other.”

This not only goes for adult patients, but Tirk has made pediatric clients a priority as well. The new suite, which opened in July 2019, has a separate entrance for patients from newborn to age 16.

Clear Choice offers newborn screens like ABRs (auditory brain stem response), which determine if a newborn has hearing loss. This is unique since most ABRs are only offered in hospitals. The private hearing and balance practice also performs VRAs, or visible reinforcement assessments to test for hearing impairments in toddlers.

Many young patients that come in to are tested for auditory processing disorder. Children with APD can have trouble learning and delayed speech. APD is also a symptom in children with disabilities, such as Down syndrome, autism spectrum disorder, sensory processing disorder or ADD/ADHD.

Children with special needs are often hyper-sensitive to stimulation around them, which is why Tirk thoughtfully designed a separate pediatric suite with an inviting waiting room featuring a large interactive mural on which patients can play “I-Spy.” Tirk was inspired to create the I-Spy mural by her 18-year-old daughter who loved to play the game as a child. Tirk knows what it’s like firsthand to parent a child with a learning disability as her daughter had an IEP (individualized education program) in school.

Though waiting is kept to a minimum for all patients, pediatric patients only spend five or ten minutes waiting, and staff makes sure the children are comfortable and involved so that testing can be smooth and occur organically.

“Some kids are tactile, some are sensory, so I wanted to make sure the suite was accommodating to all needs,” says Tirk. “I also wanted the suite to be accommodating for the caregiver so that they’re comfortable and can be interactive with the patient.”

The booths in the pediatric suite are also handicap accessible, fitting a wheelchair, an audiologist and a caregiver for times when reinforcement is necessary.

Owning and operating a private, full-scope audiology practice among two corporate giants where doctors have to refer to other clinicians within their corporation has been a roadblock for Tirk, but she’s not the type to give up.

“The biggest challenge is making sure people know that we’re here and that we’re different,” says Tirk. “If people call on a Monday, I’m seeing you that week. If people have sudden hearing loss, I’m seeing you immediately. We fit people in—that’s the biggest thing. We’re not putting you off six to eight weeks.”

Looking to the future Tirk has specific goals. She’d like to incorporate a nurse practitioner and speech therapist into the practice and continue growing the pediatric side of Clear Choice.

“I don’t want to just appeal to the patients. I want to appeal to the mothers and fathers who are worried about their child and want outside testing,” she says.

One thing is for sure—she’s going to fight to keep her practice private for as long as she needs to.

“I feel like I’m always scrapping my way along,” says Tirk. “But I’m young enough and I’m not going anywhere.”

[email protected] / (585) 363-7031