My niece, Kelly (DDS)

Dental clinic looks to fill gaps

By SUSAN LYNN
Register Editor

Register/Susan Lynn The staff at the new dental clinic includes center left and going clockwise, Serisa Edwards, dental assistant, Samantha Hurlock, dental assistant, Janet Apt, dental hygienist, Janice Elder, office staff, Paula Miller, dental assistant, Dr. Kelly Richardson, dentist, and Jennie Powell, office coordinator. Not pictured is Elizabeth Palmer, dental hygienist.

A new dental clinic will open Dec. 1 in Suite C of the Family Physicians and Iola Pharmacy building at 1408 East St.
The clinic is through the Community Health Center of Southeast Kansas, a non-profit organization based in Pittsburg that provides medical, dental, mental health and pharmacy services primarily to the poor and uninsured.
Dr. Kelly Richardson, DDS, is in the process of moving to Iola to be the clinic dentist. After her graduation from Virginia Commonwealth University’s School of Dentistry in May, Richardson spent the next five months in Pittsburg working with Community Health Center dentists. Richardson, 26, is from the Washington, D.C. area and has a bachelor’s degree in economics.
She was graduated second in her graduating class of dentistry. As a National Health Service Corps scholar, the federal government paid for her education in dentistry. In return, Richardson is required to work four years in an area designated as “high need,” for which all of Southeast Kansas qualifies. This designation comes from guidelines based on demographic data that includes a high ratio of low birth weight babies, a shortage of health providers per capita, the distance necessary to access care and the number of people enrolled in Medicaid.
Being in a high need area and having the manpower to address the issue, is how the Iola site was developed, Jason Wesco, chief financial officer of the Pittsburg health center, said. The Iola clinic has been in the making for about two years after initial discussion with members of Thrive Allen County, a charitable foundation based in Iola, who with the KU Work Group, determined that oral health, in particular, was lacking for those without health insurance or those on Medicaid. Thrive board members worked with the Pittsburg center to bring Richardson to Iola.
Pittsburg also has a dental and medical clinic that opened in May in Columbus.
“Pittsburg can be seen as the ‘hub’ and Iola and Columbus as the ‘spokes’ of our outreach,” said Wesco.

IIT’S AN EXPENSIVE undertaking for the Pittsburg center. Wesco estimates construction and outfitting the clinic to be about $350,000 and another $350,000 for annual operations. The 1,400 square-foot office has all new equipment with four chairs for patients, estimated to cost about $8,000 each to fully equip.
Funding comes from several foundations including the Kansas Dental Hub program, Kansas Sunflower Foundation, United Methodist Health Ministry Fund, the REACH Foundation of Kansas City and the Healthcare Foundation of Greater Kansas City.
REACH and the Healthcare Foundation have ties to Allen County in that it is in their service area for grant money through the sale in 2004 of Health Midwest to Health Corporation of America, which now leases Allen County Hospital.
REACH alone has committed $125,000 this first year to provide services to the uninsured at the Iola clinic, Wesco said.
Though the clinic has a mission to serve the uninsured and those on Medicaid, it will refuse no one and accept all health insurance plans, Wesco said. “And we love children.” In fact, the Pittsburg clinic grew out of being a childcare center. Of its patients in Pittsburg and Columbus, 42 percent are children. “We’ll see every kid we can,” said Wesco said. Last year its dental hygienists did more than 17,000 dental screenings all across Kansas using a mobile dental unit, Wesco said of the Pittsburg clinic’s outreach program.
From the Iola location its hygienists will also visit nursing homes, long-term care facilities, the public health department and schools. The Pittsburg clinic has worked in conjunction with Iola’s SAFE BASE program at school registrations to screen students for dental problems.
The Pittsburg clientele averages 40 percent uninsured, 40 percent on Medicaid and 20 percent of its patients having commercial insurance.
“We’re creating a point of access for adults without dental insurance or the ability to pay,” Wesco said of its outreach.

ASSISTING Dr. Richardson will be Janet Apt, Iola, and Elizabeth Palmer, Humboldt, as registered dental hygienists, who will work on a part-time basis. Palmer is currently pursuing a master’s in public health at the University of Kansas. When she graduates in May, Palmer will then be fulltime at the Iola clinic. Dental assistants are Serisa Edwards, Samantha Hurlock and Paula Miller. Office staff includes Janice Elder and Jennie Powell.
Office hours are 8 a.m. to 6 p.m., Monday through Thursday and from 8 a.m. to noon on Thursdays. To schedule an appointment beginning Dec. 1 call 365-6400 or through the Pittsburg office, toll-free, at 866-396-6788.