 Clinic History
The Shea Ear Clinic was founded in 1926 by John J. Shea, Sr., M.D., who
operated the clinic until his death in 1952. At that time, leadership of
the clinic was assumed by his son, John J. Shea, Jr., M.D. In 1957, the
Shea Ear Clinic Foundation was founded. The Foundation is dedicated to research and training
doctors. The current staff of the Shea Ear
Clinic, its associated Shea Ear Clinic Foundation, and the Shea Hearing
Aid Center consists of four medical doctors, four audiologists, two nurse
anesthetists, and approximately thirty other employees to provide service
to patients from across the United States and around the world.
Over its seventy-eight year history, the Shea Ear Clinic has become known
as a center of world class excellence and innovation in the field of
otology. The stapedectomy operation was pioneered by Dr. John Shea, Jr.
in 1956. Since that time, a string of other achievements and advances,
such as the underlay graft for tympanoplasty and trans-tympanic perfusion
for inner ear disorders, has continued to distinguish the Shea Ear Clinic
as a center of state of the art medicine of the ear, balance system, and
related structures. The addition of Dr. J. Gregory Staffel to the staff
in 1998 has expanded the scope of the Shea Ear Clinic to include facial
plastic surgery, sinus surgery, and general ear, nose, and throat for
adults and children.
Facility Information
The Shea Ear Clinic is located in the East Memphis Medical Center in a
facility that reflects its continued leadership and innovation. Patients
are received, tested, seen, and treated in one of the most complete
diagnostic facilities in the United States for the testing of hearing and
balance disorders.
Most operations at the Shea Ear Clinic are performed in the Outpatient
Surgery Center, a fully licensed, state of the art surgical facility.
Located on the second floor, the Surgery Center has two operating rooms,
a recovery room, and receiving rooms. The Surgery Center is connected to
the Residence Inn by an enclosed walkway. Most patients from outside
Memphis stay in the Residence Inn the night before and/or after an
operation and return to the care of family members the night after their
operation. This arrangement allows the Shea Ear Clinic to deliver high
quality care at a much lower cost than a hospital.
The Shea Hearing Aid Center is located on the third floor of the Shea Ear
Clinic and specializes in fitting patients with all types of hearing
problems. The Shea Hearing Aid Center is a full-service facility staffed
by trained audiologists and dispensing professionals and has the latest,
most advanced diagnostic and fitting equipment. The Shea Hearing Aid
Center sells and services a complete line of hearing aids, including the
best digital programmable devices.
Equipment
The Shea Ear Clinic contains the following medical and diagnostic equipment:
- Seven sound-proof testing booths with new Grason-Stadler audiometers
for testing hearing
- Computerized video electronystagmography for evaluating the balance
system
- Electrocochleography for computerized measurement of inner ear
pressure
- Nicolet Auditory Electrodiagnostic System, for testing hearing by
measuring electrical signals from the brain stem (auditory brainstem
response)
- Neurocom Equitest for computerized dynamic posturography, the only
system that allows the assessment of all sensory inputs involved in
balance control
- Neurokinetics sinusoidal harmonic acceleration rotation machine, for
testing the balance system, developed for space research
- General Electric CT Scanner for detailed three-dimensional imaging of
the ear and sinuses
- Complete Ohio Medical anesthesia and recovery room equipment, to
anesthetize patients and monitor them during operation and recovery
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