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Department Hours
| Closed | 8:45 am
5:00 pm | 8:45 am
5:00 pm | 8:45 am
5:00 pm | 8:45 am
5:00 pm | 8:45 am
5:00 pm | Closed |
Welcome to my Home Page!
I would like to provide you with some information about the practice of audiology and about myself and my own practice, as well as some links you may find helpful.
My Specialty and Why I Chose It
An audiologist [aw-dee-ol-uh-jist] is a licensed hearing health care provider that specializes in the study, evaluation, treatment, and rehabilitation of those with hearing or balance disorders. Audiologists are hearing specialists that have a master’s degree (MS or MA), a clinical doctorate degree (AuD), or a philosophical doctorate degree (PhD) in audiology or hearing/communication disorders from an accredited university graduate program. Audiologists have a state license to practice audiology. Dispensing audiologists have an additional state license for hearing aid dispensing and assist patients with the recommendation, fitting and programming, use and maintenance, and follow-up care of hearing aids and assisted listening devices.
To learn more about audiologists, you can visit the American Academy of Audiology.
Kaiser Permanente employs clinical audiologists to perform routine hearing tests, in-depth hearing evaluations, balance tests, and tests to assess the pathway from the ear to the brain. Dispensing audiologists see patients for hearing aids and assisted listening devices as well as custom hearing protection or fitted molds to keep water out of the ear canals. The Hearing Aid Centers at Kaiser Permanente offer both hearing testing appointments as well as hearing aid appointments. Adults can call the Audiology Department directly, without a referral, for appointments. Children, however, require a referral for hearing test appointments. A parent can request a referral from their child’s pediatrician. To search for another facility or audiologist at Kaiser Permanente, get answers to FAQs, or take a hearing health quiz, check out Kaiser Permanente’s Hearing Aid Center.
My Practice Philosophy
My practice stems from my belief that we have an innate desire to communicate and be involved in something greater than ourselves. We create relationships and are drawn to others to share our stories, our ideas, and our jokes. Communication is how we stay connected. We gain confidence when we are well received and liked by others, and with confidence, we tend to have a more positive approach, are more successful, and ultimately, tend to be happier people.
What happens when one has difficulty communicating because of some degree of hearing impairment?
When one experiences hearing loss, it affects that individual as well as those that try to communicate with him/her. The effects of hearing loss on a relationship can vary, depending on the degree of impairment and the type of relationship. But even the strongest relationships can suffer from a communication breakdown. Sometimes we get a laugh out of what was said and what was heard. The difference can be WAY off and sometimes quite comical! Sometimes there is a mild annoyance from the hearing impaired individual or the other communicator. Sometimes the hearing impaired individual withdraws from the conversation or avoids going to events where it may be difficult to hear. Sometimes there is anger; anger from the hearing impaired because it seems others just don’t speak grammatically correct English; and anger from the non-hearing impaired communicator, because he doesn’t want to repeat any more and does not understand why the hearing impaired is not hearing him. Sometimes folks call for a hearing evaluation when there is just minor difficulty, and sometimes folks call when they are fed-up.
My job is to help facilitate this fundamental need to communicate. So, the first step is to understand the nature and degree of the communication and hearing difficulty. Then we talk about the next step. Sometimes it is to be fitted for hearing aids. Sometimes it is to try assisted listening devices. Sometimes it is to learn to use better listening techniques or enhance communication skills. The goal is to empower and educate the patient and their loved ones, to improve communication, and ultimately, lessen the stress that communication difficulty can cause in the patient’s relationships.
About me:
I was born and raised in the Sacramento area. Actually, my first breaths were at the Kaiser Permanente Sacramento Medical Center on Morse Avenue. I am the second child, oldest daughter, in a line up of four siblings, with brothers on either side of me and a “baby” sister, eight years younger than me. My maternal instincts towards my sister started the day we met. I wanted to protect her and nurture her. I am sure this relationship had a lot to do with my path in life.
I graduated from El Camino High School and then attended American River College, just down the road, where I got an AA in Liberal Studies. I then transferred to California State University, Sacramento, where I earned a bachelor’s degree in speech pathology and audiology and then a master’s degree in audiology. I completed a fellowship year with a very busy, local ENT group. I stayed there for a total of three years until I joined the awesome audiology group at the Sacramento Kaiser Hearing Aid Center in 2003 and I need to say that I really love it here! It is so nice to work with such a conscientious and thoughtful team!
Aside from school and work, I managed to get myself a husband and start a family. We have two beautiful children, a girl and a boy, both born in the hot month of June, in 2005 and 2007, respectively. They keep us busy! Our daughter is “Princess Livi” and our son is “The Mess Maker”. Both names were coined by our daughter.
I am very fortunate to have my parents and all my siblings close by. I also have three wonderful, beautiful sisters in law that live in town. I try to remember how fortunate I really am. It is easy to get tangled up in the daily stresses and irritations that we all experience. So, I try to keep myself in check. It’s not easy. It takes diligence and practice. It takes looking at things from a positive perspective. I believe things happen for a reason. It may not always be clear, but there is a reason. Good things happen. Bad things happen. That’s part of life. With change, with challenges, with good and bad happenings, we grow into who we are. There’s a wonderful quote by Charles Swindoll that I like. Here he talks about “Attitude”.
“The longer I live the more I realize the impact of attitude on life. Attitude, to me, is more important than facts. It is more important than the past, than education, than money, than circumstances, than failures, than success, than what other people think or say or do. It is more important than appearance, giftedness, or skill. It will make or break a company…a school…a home. The remarkable thing is we have a choice every day regarding the attitude we will embrace for that day. We cannot change our past…we cannot change the fact that people will act in a certain way. We cannot change the inevitable. The only thing we can do is play on the one thing we have, and that is our attitude…I am convinced that life is 10% what happens to me and 90% how I react to it.”
How to Contact Me:
There are several ways to contact me. If you have seen me in the past and have signed up for a free online account at www.kp.org, you can send me a secured email by clicking on the link above titled “Email your doctor”. You can also call our Audiology Department directly where you will get one of our receptionists and if you have a need other than appointment scheduling, you can ask to be transferred to me. I’m right down the hall! The direct phone number to our department is 916-977-3277.
Helpful Links
For information, education, advocacy, and support, visit:
For information on Hearing Health and Research:
For information on children with hearing loss:
Be sure to visit the Kaiser Permanente Website for additional information regarding appointments, prescriptions, health education classes and other health-related topics. You can also click on my department link above to receive additional health information.
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