Our Story – Dallas Ear Institute
The Dallas Ear Institute has a legacy that dates to 1974 when Medical City Dallas Hospital opened its doors to the public. At the ribbon cutting ceremony was a highly respected ENT surgeon Dr. Trevor Mabry. He was involved in the strategic planning aspects of this new hospital venture, which was in an area of north Dallas that seemed at the time on the outskirts of the city.
Dr. Mabry was a highly skilled surgeon and built a thriving ENT medical practice. But he also garnered great respect for his involvement in charitable service to patients, schools, churches, and other Christian ministries. In 1979, Dr. Dan Dansby was brought into the practice after completion of his ENT medical training at UT Southwestern, forming Dallas Otolaryngology Associates. Dr. Dansby continued and even fostered the practice’s reputation and involvement in charitable medical service and Christian ministry.
In June of 1987 tragedy struck. Dr. Mabry as well as three of his friends and colleagues, were lost in a plane crash on their way home from a board meeting in Montana for the Christian ministry Focus on the Family. After mourning his friend and mentor, Dr. Dansby had to attend to the practice of 2 doctors and figure out what to do next. He did so with great strength and perseverance.
Leading up to this time, Dr. Bob Peters was concluding his residency in ENT and beginning his subspecialty fellowship training in Neurotololgy at the UT Medical School in Galveston under Dr. Ed Mattox, a respected cochlear implant researcher and acoustic neuroma surgeon. This experience with Dr. Mattox was the primary influence for Dr. Peters ongoing passion to work with children and adults with hearing loss and with rapidly evolving cochlear implant technology.
As providence would have it, Dr. Mabry’s daughter, was a staff audiologist with Dr. Peters at this very place and time. One month prior to the plane crash, Dr. Mabry and his wife visited their daughter in Galveston where they met Dr. Peters. Dr. Mabry graciously offered for Dr. Peters to consider joining his practice in Dallas at the conclusion of his training. Little did anyone know what would occur in the coming weeks.
After the difficult loss of Dr. Mabry, Dr. Dansby reached out to Dr. Peters to begin planning what would become phase 2 for Dallas Otolaryngology Associates. Upon completion of his fellowship training, Dr. Peters joined Dr. Dansby in Dallas. Their partnership was a huge success. Dr. Dansby continued his thriving ENT practice while Dr. Peters slowly put together a cochlear implant program and neurotology practice. The first cochlear implant at Medical City Dallas Hospital was performed in 1992. By the early 2000s, the cochlear implant program was performing more than 100 new cochlear implant surgeries per year and had become one of the largest private practice cochlear implant programs in the country. The team approach that was developed to serve the cochlear implant population proved so effective that it became a model for other CI programs.
By 2008 Dr. Dansby was beginning to look toward retirement after a long and successful career. The decision was made to search for another neurotology trained physician to focus the practice on specialized ear surgery and treatment. Dr. Yoav Hahn joined the practice after completing his training at the prestigious Michigan Ear Institute. The practice name was changed to the Dallas Ear Institute. Dr. Hahn brought with him the most advanced techniques in ear and skull base surgery and rapidly developed an outstanding reputation for his surgical expertise and caring for his patients.
In December of 2016, Dr. Dansby had his last days in practice and is now enjoying retirement. DEI has continued to expand with the addition of Dr. Brian Rodgers in August of 2017 after completion of his neurotology training also at the Michigan Ear Institute. It took very little time for everyone to see that the choice of Dr. Rodgers was an excellent one. Dr. Page is our latest addition, joining Dallas Ear Institute in the summer of 2022. He completed his neurotology training at Baylor University in Houston. He has been an incredible addition and we are excited about his future.
DEI is busier than ever, having grown since 1990 from having 1 audiologist in 3000 square feet of office space to now having 3 offices, in Dallas, Frisco, and Fort Worth. We have 4 neurotologists, a physician’s assistant, 10 audiologists, several active research studies, and a dedicated Hearing Center. In honor of our great legacy, it remains our goal to contribute to our profession, provide the best care for our patients, and to serve our community with our skills to the best of our ability.