Family Hearing Center continues to provide the most advanced diagnostic services and amplification technology to benefit hearing-impaired patients and their families, so they stay connected to the people, places, and activities they love. With more than 90 years of combined experience, the licensed audiologists at Family Hearing Center are the most experienced audiology group in the area, currently providing services for hearing-impaired individuals from birth to over 100 years of age. With their compassion and expertise, providing services for multiple generations within a family, they truly are a Family Hearing Center.
How It All Started
In 1967, Robert Asby, then director of the Department of Audiology at the Geisinger Medical Center in Danville, established the first independent audiology practice in Pennsylvania. The practice, located in Kingston, was associated with P. John Hagan, M.D., an ear, nose, and throat surgeon who was also on staff at the Geisinger Medical Center. The focus of the practice was to provide the most comprehensive hearing health care in Northeastern Pennsylvania (NEPA). The practice was joined shortly after by James F. Hora, M.D., who was also formerly on staff at Geisinger Medical Center.
The group installed the latest in diagnostic hearing testing equipment in order to provide a series of firsts in comprehensive audiology care in NEPA. This philosophy of comprehensive, patient-focused care has continued to the present date. In 1972, as a result of the Agnes Flood, the practice moved to an office adjacent to the Wilkes-Barre General Hospital. At that time, William Russin, M.D., joined the specialty practice.
Robert Asby & Associates was the first audiology practice in NEPA to fit advanced-technology hearing aids in a comprehensive audiology and medical setting. Other firsts include the addition of newborn hearing testing and the establishment of a center for auditory evoked response testing at the Wilkes-Barre General Hospital. During those growth years, Asby participated on regional, state, and national audiology committees and taught part-time at two universities.
James Zeigler, audiologist, joined the practice in 1987, and the group became the first audiology practice to fit computer-programmable hearing aids in NEPA. Dr. Zeigler was a member of the first class to graduate from Bloomsburg University’s audiology doctoral program in May of 2006. Dr. Zeigler participates on numerous regional and state committees. He also teaches part-time at Misericordia University and provides clinical supervision for doctoral students in the Bloomsburg University audiology program. Judith Johnston, audiologist, joined the practice in 1997, providing diagnostic audiology and hearing aid services to patients of all ages. In 2009, Dr. Johnston received her doctorate in audiology from Salus University, George S. Osborne College of Audiology. In 2022, Dr. Jamie Daigle joined the practice and provides diagnostic audiology and hearing aid services to patients of all ages. Dr. Daigle earned her doctorate in audiology from Bloomsburg University.
In 2020, the audiology practice merged the Kingston and Dallas offices to the centrally located Forty Fort Theater building located at 920 Wyoming Ave in Forty Fort. The office has convenient parking a few steps from the office entrance. Family Hearing provides care to multiple generations of patients.