Union Hospital’s Community Health and Wellness Department is announcing another free hearing screening event. The event will be held at the offices of ear, nose and throat physicians Dr. Melanie Pence and Dr. Nicholas Groch and audiologist Jane Bachman at East Ohio ENT, 400 Medical Park Drive on the UH campus in Dover. The hearing screening event will be on Saturday, Dec. 10, with appointments available between 8 a.m. and 4 p.m.

Appointments are required for the screenings and can be made by visiting http://www.unionhospital.org under “health events” or by calling the hospital’s community relations office at 330-602-0778 during regular business hours.

“More than 11 percent of the U.S. population has hearing loss,” said Bachman. “Nearly one third of people over the age of 60 experience hearing loss, although changes in hearing can occur at any age.”

Pam Dummermuth, UH coordinator of community health and wellness, said one indicator of a potential hearing loss is if you often ask people to repeat what they’ve said or if you misunderstand what has been said.

“Many times it’s your spouse or a friend who first detects your hearing problem because you’re always asking for things to be repeated or you just misunderstand the words being spoken,” Dummermuth added.