Gold Country Hearing - Sacramento

Hearing Instrument Specialist Samantha Poulos joins Gold Country Hearing with a commitment to excellent patient care and education. She is a graduate of CSU Sacramento where she majored in audiology and speech-language pathology, with a minor in deaf studies. Samantha believes better hearing can change lives by enhancing not only her patient’s lives, but also the lives of their families. She feels it’s an honor to help others improve their life by treating their hearing loss. 

To Licensed Hearing Instrument Specialist, Teresa Kasiarz, improving the quality of someone’s life is incredibly rewarding. She works to develop long-lasting relationships with her patients and is dedicated to helping them strengthen communication with loved ones through better hearing. She draws upon her background as a nursing assistant and her training as a Hearing Aid Dispenser to give patients the gold standard in care. An avid traveler, she returns as often as she can to her favorite places in the world-Costa Rica and Puerto Viejo de Talamanca. Fluent in English and Polish, she also speaks some Russian, helping to expand Gold Country Hearing and Balance’s service. She adores her two cats, Rysiek and Mishia, and lives by a personal motto she borrowed from Bob Marley, “Love the life you live, live the life you love.”

A teacher at heart, Dr. Meghann Keehner, Au.D., feels most at home teaching others about the importance of hearing health. Whether she is teaching the newest generation of audiologists or teaching her patients how to treat and manage their hearing loss, she believes that a well-informed patient/doctor relationship is the key to success and better hearing. She’s learned that patients feel safer and more comfortable with medical decisions if they are provided more information, and she finds it incredibly rewarding when her patients are able to relax with her. 

Dr. Keehner graduated with a Doctorate of Audiology from University of the Pacific (UOP) in 2019. Following her graduation, she worked for Kaiser and UC Davis, while also teaching and precepting students at UOP and Sacramento State University, California. 

Endlessly fascinated with the brain and how humans acquire languages, she became an audiologist in  order to explore these connections. With a background in neurobiology and linguistics, she had originally planned to become a Speech Pathologist, but found the ear so much more interesting.

Outside of work, Dr. Keehner likes paper and sewing crafts, building Legos, and running and hiking. She also enjoys traveling, most especially when there is a museum or aquarium close by.

Dr. Mary Kate Donegan grew up in a family where many struggled to hear and she became aware of the social and emotional impact of hearing loss at an early age. With an inherent desire to help others, she relishes the opportunity to treat the unique needs of her patients. Whether she teaches her patients why they might have trouble hearing in background noise, understanding the cause of their dizziness, or providing hearing aid assistance, she loves that each day brings something new. When she isn’t working, she loves hanging out with her cat, Sylvie, exploring new places, reading, or watching movies and television. She also loves to travel, and each year tries to explore at least one new place in the United States. Dr. Donegan can often be heard encouraging her patients with her motto, "All we can do is give it our best shot.” 

She earned her bachelor’s degree and Doctorate of Audiology from the University of Kansas (Rock Chalk!) and though originally from Chicago’s southwest suburbs, Dr. Donegan is settled in Northern California and a committed to comprehensive and personal hearing care.