BC hearing aid practitioner suspended for allegedly stealing hearing aids from work

A BC hearing aid specialist has been suspended for allegedly stealing hearing aids from work and selling them to his clients.

According to a March 30 College of Health Care Professionals of BC decision, hearing instrument practitioner Steven Wirtanen is suspected of swiping the hearing aids from his employer and selling them directly to clients for personal profit.

The regulator has suspended Wirtanen’s licence pending an investigation.

“The (regulator) found the alleged misconduct, if proven to be true, amounts to fraudulent conduct for personal financial benefit, which erodes the public’s trust in the profession,” the College said in the decision. “The (regulator) also found that such conduct, if it were to recur, poses a potential risk of serious harm to clients’ hearing health if they had issues with the hearing aids that were sold to them and they were unable to seek remedies through the manufacturer’s warranties.”

In the decision, the College says that although the matter has not been proven, it has placed an immediate suspension on Wirtanen’s licence as the allegation involves three separate clients and is not from a single case.

“In the circumstances, the (College) found the public could only be protected through the suspension of (Wirtanen’s) registration and that lesser measures would not suffice,” the decision reads.

The College doesn’t give any details about where Wirtanen worked or how long he has been a hearing instrument practitioner. Information posted to social media suggests he only became registered in September 2025.

There is no information about how much money he is alleged to have made selling the hearing aids.

None of the allegations has yet been proven by the College of Health Care Professionals of BC.