Cathy Jones, 2009 BHI president

The Better Hearing Institute (BHI), Washington, has elected Cathy Henderson Jones, Phonak, as its 2009 president.

Jones has served on the BHI’s board for several years and has held many other industry positions, including  current immediate past chair of the Hearing Industries Association.

The 30-year industry veteran served as president/CEO of Phonak US from 2001 to December 31, 2008, and recently was named executive director of corporate relations, to lead the efforts of Hear the World. See the recent HR news item: /news/2009-01-16_01.asp.

Jones noted BHI’s key accomplishments in 2008: launching the Web site www.hearingaidtaxcredit.org, resulting in nearly 25,000 letters sent to Congress in support of tax credit legislation; achieving almost 1,600 placements in print or on the Web for an audience of 259 million people; and of attracting Web site visitors in excess of 750,000. "And our greatest compliment was that this past year we noticed that many hearing health professionals are using BHI material to promote their practice," she said. "I intend to help BHI amplify all of those achievements and extend its positive impact even further.”

The board elected Brian Kinnerk, president of Unitron as VP, and Gordon Walker, general manager of Knowles Electronics as secretary/treasurer; both men serve as directors.

The board elected a new member who is expected to expand representation of the hearing industry: Michele Fusco, senior VP of HearPO/Contracting at Amplifon USA. Fusco oversees Amplifon’s third-party contracting and audiology provider network. As a corporate-based audiologist, she should bring a unique perspective to BHI’s practice-development initiatives.