Our new centre for delivering hearing services in the Northern Rivers region will open soon following the devastating Lismore floods last year.

The new Alstonville centre, scheduled to open in mid-February, replaces our Lismore centre destroyed in the flood disaster almost a year ago.

NextSense Chief Executive Chris Rehn said: ‘It has been a very challenging year for the Northern Rivers region, with recovery and rebuilding ongoing and our thoughts are with those still impacted by these events. We feel very fortunate to have found a new location to deliver hearing services to the community.

‘This would not have been possible without the support of the NextSense Board that committed to re-establishing a new centre in a safe location, along with the ongoing generosity of the Parramore Foundation, which has supported our Northern Regions services for many years, and committed additional funds over and above their regular support, for our new premises. Our thanks also go to the JLDJS Foundation, for their generous support.’

While the search and fit-out of new premises was underway, NextSense continued providing limited services to local clients. We want to thank Hearing Australia for their support after the flood, and our clients, for bearing with us as we worked to get our new premises up and running.

We still have some work ahead to get our new centre fully equipped and functioning but have continued to arrange urgent and acute appointments where possible.

Clients with urgent requirements can get in touch with the team via:

• email at alstonville@nextsense.org.au or
• by phoning 02 98446855 or 1300 658 981.

‘We are very lucky to be part of such a resilient and strong community and we’re looking forward to being able to continue providing best practice services for those who need us,’ Mr Rehn said.

Supported by the Parramore Foundation 

The late Jenny Parramore began her association with NextSense when we were known as the Royal Institute for Deaf and Blind Children. She was a long-time supporter of health interventions and had a particular interest in supporting cochlear implants in children, particularly those from Indigenous communities. Her Parramore Foundation funded our Lismore centre and was established to support the centre in perpetuity. She is fondly remembered for both her generosity and contribution.