Our Hearing Professionals

When Robert Ranere retired from the United States Navy in 1992 he wanted to find a career where he could couple his engineering experience with his desire to continue helping people. Choosing to become a Hearing Aid Specialist was the best choice for him for many reasons. The advent of the computerized hearing aids meant that skilled programming would be necessary to create positive listening experiences for patients, and he enjoys programming. More importantly, the possibility of helping people one on one and actually seeing their lives change immediately was exciting to him. Robert completed his training and became a licensed specialist in February of 1996, and he made his first patient cry less than two months later. Now crying is not always a bad thing, on that particular day he fit a 94-year-old patient from Italy, who was visiting her sister for the summer with her first set of hearing aids. When these two sisters sat and spoke to each other quietly and comfortably for the first time in man years… they both started to cry and he joined right in. Twenty-two years and approximately 10,000 patients later, he still remembers that day like it was yesterday, and that's why he comes to work every day with a smile on his face and tissues in his pocket.

Lorna Kaye is Brooklyn born and raised along with her seven siblings. Being around that many siblings Lorna thought that it was too much. When she married she thought two was just perfect. She raised her two precious children in the countryside of upstate New York. Life took some wrong turns, Lorna lost her beautiful sister in the World Trade Center on 9/11, and so she left the metropolitan scene in the rearview mirror. Her two remaining sisters came along to Florida with their children, and they started life anew. The Florida sun and surf can cure what ails you in a hurry. After relocating from New Jersey to Florida, she found herself in a search for a meaningful career. She had always gravitated to a customer service environment. The Hearing Center in West Palm Beach was a perfect fit. Robert Ranere and her make for a perfect team. Together they welcome those within their community to come in, so they can evaluate their needs and offer help. They cater to a large retirement area and her New York demeanor gives many of the patients a feeling of home and comfort.

Marc Bourassa has been in the hearing industry since 2005. He started his career off as a patient care coordinator where he was responsible for ensuring the efficient operations of the practice and overall patient experience. After a few years of working as an administrator in the practice and seeing the impact that hearing instruments have on a patient’s life, he started his apprenticeship to become a hearing aid specialist. In 2016 Marc completed his training and became a licensed Hearing Instrument Specialist. In order to help his patients and their families to improve the quality of their lives, he is continuing his education and training as the advancements in technology are continuously evolving at amazing speeds.

Growing up, Marc experienced firsthand how hearing loss not only affects the life of the person but also affects the lives of everyone who interacts with them. Marc’s mother has been profoundly deaf since the age of 4 when she received her first hearing aids. She wore hearing aids for 28 years. Luckily, through the advancements of modern medicine, she was able to be medically treated and surgically corrected. After having 5 surgeries she experienced better than normal hearing for almost 20 years. Regrettably, the tumors she had previously removed, had grown back requiring additional surgeries which saved her life, but once again left her severely hearing impaired. During that time, Marc experienced firsthand not only the impact that her hearing loss was having on her physical safety and wellbeing, but also how it was effecting himself as well, so much so that talking with his mother became such a labored effort that he often skipped repeating himself and arguing with her when she responded incorrectly, that he stopped including her in general conversations or taking her out to her favorite restaurants or even calling her just to say hello. Marc made the arrangements so she could have the use of a service dog for the hearing impaired and has had one for many years now. Since then she has been successfully wearing hearing instruments for the past 25yrs. With the advancements that have come along with the use of digital computerized hearing instruments in the past few years, she hears so well that now the service dog has now shifted rolls and has become more of a companion animal for her as she does not need to rely on their abilities as a service dog to hear for her.

Back in 2009, Marc experienced a severe sinus infection that required 12 surgeries and the use of very powerful antibiotics. This saved his life but also left him a significant hearing loss in both ears along with the loss of his sense of smell and taste. This impacted him so much that over the past 34 years he has continued to dedicate his life to helping meet the needs of the hearing impaired through the use of many options that are now available to treat hearing loss.

Mr. Colman encourages you to call for a complimentary annual assessment, whether your calling for yourself, or for a loved one who may not even be aware they are having difficulties. Everyone should come in for a complimentary, annual video ear canal examination along with a complete hearing assessment.