HIA Elects Board, Addresses Technology Innovations

The Hearing Industries Association (HIA), Washington, DC, the national trade association for hearing device manufacturers, held its 2017 Annual Meeting in the nation’s capital March 14-16. At the meeting, themed “Access, Promise, and Progress” to highlight the leadership HIA has provided for hearing technology innovation, HIA members and guests were provided insights spanning over-the-counter (OTC) legislation to prospects for better integrating hearing health into the US healthcare system, HIA said in a press release.

HIA elected Brandon Sawalich, senior vice president, Starkey Hearing Technologies, as chair. Kim Lody, president of GN Hearing, was named vice chair, and Jeffrey Geigel, president of Widex, USA Inc was named secretary/treasurer. Directors elected for 2-year terms were Gary Rosenblum, president of Oticon Inc., Steve Mahon, CEO of Sivantos, and Jan Metzdorff, president of Phonak LLC.

“HIA has elected a strong, engaged board poised to lead toward a future in which technology and personalized professional care work together to provide the best experience in hearing healthcare for patients,” said HIA Chair Brandon Sawalich.

Highlights of the meeting included a welcome to the nation’s capital from Representative Erik Paulsen (R-MN). Featured speakers at the session included Dr Daniel Blazer, chair of the National Academies of Sciences hearing initiative; Dr. James Battey, director of the National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders (NIDCD), and Dr. Srinivas “Nandu” Nandkumar of the US Food & Drug Administration, as well as members and consultants to HIA. All of the meeting’s presentations focused on current nationwide efforts to increase the numbers of people with hearing loss in the United States who will benefit from the use of hearing aids.

Source: HIA