The Atwell Mill and its Annex on Albany Street are becoming a de facto medical center in Cazenovia, with current businesses there including a chiropractor, a dentist, a family physician’s office, a family therapist, a personal therapist, a psychotherapist, a physical therapist, a laboratory testing service and a Medicare insurance agent.
And now, with the recent addition of Hamilton Hearing, LLC, there is also a hearing counselor and hearing aid dispenser.
“I’m very excited [to be in Cazenovia],” said Robert Bishton III, BC-HIS, who will be in charge of Hamilton Hearing’s Cazenovia office. “I find Cazenovia people friendly, approachable, helpful, and I think I’m in an ideal location” because of the other medical businesses located in the Atwell Mill and its Annex.
Hamilton Hearing LLC is a multi-line dispenser of state-of-the-art hearing instruments that offers comprehensive hearing exams to adults ages 18 and over at no charge.
The business was started in September 2014 by founding principal Laurie Bishton, with locations in Hamilton and Norwich. The Bishtons (who are married) both worked for years with big franchise hearing aid companies but, after their recent move to Hamilton, Laurie decided she was no longer pleased by the franchise system — or her one-hour commute to Rome — and decided she could do a better job by opening her own business.
After only five months of growing business, the Bishtons decided they needed a third location.
“We just looked at each other and said, ‘Why not Cazenovia?’” Robert said. There has not been a hearing business in Cazenovia for at least 20 years, there was a vacant space in the Atwell Mill and the idea just seemed “logical,” he said.
Plus, Laurie is a Cazenovia native and Cazenovia High School Class of 1980 graduate.
The Bishtons are both state-registered hearing aid dispensers with a total of 36 years of experience between the two of them in advanced testing and counseling of the hearing impaired and the dispensing of hearing aids. Robert is also nationally board certified in Hearing Instrument Science, one of only 2,400 medical professionals so certified in the U.S.
“We have a different approach here at Hamilton Hearing that isn’t found at the big name franchises,” according to Laurie. “As a small, independent practice, I have the time to focus on what is best for the patient. I look at hearing loss and how it affects our overall wellness. Untreated hearing loss affects so many aspects of a person’s life: it puts strain on the relationships they have with their family and friends and sometimes even causes depression, anxiety and social withdrawal.”
Laurie will continue to practice in the Hamilton and Norwich offices, while Robert will practice in the Cazenovia office.
According to the National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders, hearing loss is the third most common chronic health condition facing older adults after arthritis and hypertension; while about 20 percent of adults in the United States report some degree of hearing loss and approximately one-third of Americans between ages 65 and 74 have a hearing loss.
“We get our eyes checked; we get our teeth checked. … Why wouldn’t you get [your hearing] checked?” Robert said.
All appointments at Hamilton Hearing start with the free hearing screening. Patients sit in the sound booth and indicate when they can hear the sounds through the headphones. If the test results show significant hearing loss, more tests will be done to determine the exact nature of the individual’s hearing loss and to discuss potential options, Bishton said.
“Hearing loss comes on very slowly; it’s difficult to recognize,” Bishton said. “I’ve often said you know when your vision needs to be checked because it is no longer clear to see a road sign. So vision is either black or white, either clear or not clear, whereas hearing is gray.”
Bishton said hearing loss will remain stable or get worse — it will not improve on its own. What hearing aids do for people is to “put the system back to work that is no longer functioning well on its own,” he said.
Bishton said it is “not unusual” for him to see people in their 50s with hearing loss and seek help for it, although he has had people as young as in their 30s or 40s.
“The sooner you get help for hearing loss, the better it will be for the rest of your life,” Bishton said. “That’s what we do.”
Hamilton Hearing is located at 132 Albany St. inside the Atwell Mill. For more information, call 750-2064 or visit hamiltonhearingcny.com.
Jason Emerson is editor of the Cazenovia Republican. He can be reached at [email protected].
