BC Adult Cochlear Implant Program

We accept adult patients (18 years and older) who meet the following criteria. Note: there is no upper age limit on receiving a cochlear implant:

• Patient has moderate (in the low frequencies) to profound hearing loss in both ears.
• Patient has little benefit from well fit hearing aids.
• Patient’s speech perception scores on a sentence recognition test are 50% or less in the ear to be implanted. The score is 60% or less in the non-implanted ear or in both ears.
• Patient is motivated and has realistic expectations of the cochlear implant.
• No medical contraindications.

Note: As of January 2020, the BC Adult Cochlear Implant Program expanded the cochlear implant candidacy criteria to include patients with single-sided deafness, asymmetrical hearing loss, and bilateral sequential cochlear implantation for those that no longer benefit from amplification on their non-implanted side. These patients will need to be assessed to determine candidacy. Once the completed referral documents have been received by the program, they will be reviewed by the cochlear implant team to determine if a candidacy assessment is appropriate.

Referrals can be sent to the BC Adult Cochlear Implant Program:

St. Paul’s Hospital
BC Rotary Hearing & Balance Centre
2600 Providence Building
1081 Burrard Street
Vancouver, BC, V6Z 1Y6

Phone: 604-806-8540
Fax: 604-806-8435

1. A referral package will be sent to the patient which will include the documents as indicated below. Please note the Unilateral and Sequential Bilateral CI Questionnaires are different.
2. The patient will request a referral to the CI Surgeon from their family doctor or through a walk-in clinic. Please be sure to request a copy of the referral letter.
3. The patient will schedule an appointment with their hearing aid provider to complete a current hearing test and obtained historical hearing tests.
4. The patient will complete the CI  questionnaire and the CI Dizziness questionnaire.
5. The completed referral package will be sent to the the BC Adult Cochlear Implant Program. We will not accept incomplete referral packages. 

Fax: 604-806-8435 or email: ci@providencehealth.bc.ca. Complete referral packages include the following:

1. CI referral document checklist
2. Copy of referral letter to CI surgeon
3. CI questionnaire
4. CI dizzy questionnaire
5. Current audiogram
6. Historical audiograms

To expedite referrals, otolaryngologists, family physicians, audiologists and hearing instrument practitioners may choose to download the relevant referral documents below and request the patient to follow the above steps. Incomplete referral packages will not be accepted.

Once all documents have been received, each referral will be reviewed on an individual basis .

• If the documents reviewed indicate that the patient is clearly not a candidate, a letter will be sent advising the patient that they do not yet meet the candidacy criteria.
• If the documents indicate that the patient might be a candidate, a letter will be sent advising the patient that they are on the CI candidacy assessment waitlist.   The patient will be contacted to schedule a candidacy assessment once their name reaches the top of the list. 

Note: Cochlear implant candidates who were originally referred to the program by an audiologist or a hearing instrument practitioner will be required to obtain a referral from their primary care provider to the office of Dr. Brian Westerberg and Dr. Kevan Lu to complete the medical/surgical candidacy assessment.