Baby Sound Check^TM is a model training program for infanttoddler hearing screening developed by John Tracy Clinic (JTC) in collaboration with AltaMed Health Services Corporation, St. John’s Well Child and Family Center, South Central Family Health Center, and Venice Family Clinic. The project will target underserved children ages birth to three years whose families are seeking medical care in community health clinics in Los Angeles County. Major funding for the project has been provided by Everybody Loves Raymond’s Monica and Phil Rosenthal.

Baby Sound Check was inspired by a family enrolled in JTC’s Parent/Infant Program. Although the toddler, named Fátima, had failed a newborn screening 2 years earlier at a California hospital, she had not received appropriate follow-up and was delayed in speech and language development. She became a patient at the AltaMed Community Clinic soon after her hearing loss diagnosis at age 18 months. Based on the diagnosis, her pediatrician had sent Fátima for the recommended screenings for conditions that are often linked to deafness. A cardiologist diagnosed Long QT Syndrome, a potentially life-threatening heart condition that might have been detected earlier if Fátima’s hearing loss had been diagnosed at birth. The pediatrician, Dr. Parul Bhatia, knew that very few of her patients received newborn hearing screenings because at that time not all California hospitals were mandated to do them. She wondered how many more children like Fátima might be in her practice, and contacted JTC.