Jacob Dimond / jake@yelmonline.com
One of Yelm’s newest businesses, Complete Hearing and Balance, celebrated a new beginning and its grand opening through a ribbon cutting ceremony on Tuesday, June 23, at its fourth location in the South Sound region, 201 Tahoma Blvd. SE.
Dr. Alison Vega, owner of Complete Hearing and Balance, told the Nisqually Valley News on Saturday, June 27, that the audiology center will currently be open one day a week from 7:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Thursdays while the new Yelm-based business is “getting (their) feet under them.”
“We’ve got a nice, long day just one day a week right now,” Vega said. “I’m hoping that by the end of the year, with demand and improving some of our staffing needs, that we’ll be able to be open a couple days a week. For right now, it’s only going to be Thursdays.”
You can find the other three Complete Hearing and Balance locations in Olympia, Chehalis and Lacey.
Additionally, Vega said the ribbon cutting ceremony last Tuesday “was really special.” She noted that several local businesses like Steele Barrel Barbecue and Sugar Rush Bakery were in attendance, while a local floral company brought in some flower bouquets.
“I was really honored to have all of my staff there. We closed all of our locations and had every single employee there to help us celebrate,” Vega said. “It was so great to see all of the people from the Yelm community and beyond come out to support us and show their love for what they’re doing. It was very sweet, and gosh, it was a hot day. It was very nice that people showed up and were able to withstand the heat.”
Vega noted that Complete Hearing and Balance decided on Yelm as a location for expansion because she’s known the providers at Yelm Family Medicine for quite some time. She said the two parties have had discussions over the last decade about how there’s a need in Yelm for a good audiology care center.
“As the community continues to grow and more people are living there and working there, and the community is growing and getting stronger, it just makes sense to have really good health care,” Vega said. “Every community needs really good healthcare and I realize that people in Yelm are used to traveling and leaving town when they need things. It makes me feel proud to be part of the strong healthcare community that Yelm is building, and to be a presence.”
Additionally, Complete Hearing and Balance is a fullscope audiology practice — not just an organization that sells hearing aids.
“We can help them figure out what the right tools are for the problems they are having,” she said. “It’s more than buying a hearing aid. It’s about having their hearing and balance assessed to figure out what we can do to help them identify the problems they’re having and whether or not they need help. That’s our sweet spot.”
Vega is originally from the Palouse region of the Pacific Northwest, as she grew up in the Pullman, Washington, and Moscow, Idaho, portions of the PNW. Additionally, Vega studied at Western Washington University, where she received her undergrad degree in communication disorders — specifically, speech pathology and audiology.
She began working in Seattle with a group of audiologists and fell in love with the profession, before ultimately attending graduate school at Utah State University and studying doctoral training.
Despite the move to Utah, Vega knew she wanted to eventually return to the Seattle area. After returning to Washington, she obtained her residency through an ear, nose and throat clinic — ENT Associates Southwest.
“I stayed there for about seven years and just fell in love with the greater Olympia, south sound community. It just felt like home,” Vega said. “I ended up starting a family here and worked with that ENT group for about seven years and then decided that I really wanted to expand my ability to offer treatment options for patients.”
According to Vega, working in an ENT office can often lead to surgically based solutions. She claimed patients will come in to find out what medical issue they have and what surgery or medicine will fix it. While she loved serving her patients, Vega wanted to find a deeper solution to the problems people were experiencing.
“My treatment options were really limited to whatever they were offering. As an audiologist, I was trained to offer a whole bunch of treatment options but that wasn’t really their deal,” Vega said. “After being with that group for seven years, I learned a lot about medical disorders. I learned a lot about medical treatment, but really wanted to offer my patients more than what I could do there.”
Vega would eventually begin her own practice, Complete Hearing and Balance, in 2011. She claimed when she first began the practice, she had zero business training or money. Despite the circumstances, her passion of wanting to treat patients led her to triumph.
“I opened up a practice on the west side of Olympia. It was myself and a part-time receptionist, and we just figured it out,” Vega said. “It’s been so crazy to look back over the last 15 years and see how far my business has come. I never really started the business with the idea that I wanted to be an entrepreneur. I just wanted to help patients.”
Vega added that she didn’t expect the growth that’s followed since she first opened her practice in 2011. While she’s surprised by the success of Complete Hearing and Balance, Vega is thrilled to see people wanting the work she’s doing.
“It’s been a fast and furious growth, but it’s been super rewarding,” Vega said. “Now, we’re at four locations and I’ve got a staff of about 20. We just keep growing. Now, we’re opening our Yelm office and it’s pretty exciting.”
