by Olga Peters, Vermont Business Magazine A new dental clinic, called the Windham County Dental Center, focusing on providing care to low-income Vermonters, will soon open in Brattleboro thanks to a collaboration between the United Way of Windham County and Brattleboro Memorial Hospital.
Going on nine years, the United Way of Windham County has offered Adult Dental Care Day. The all-day event gives people without dental insurance – or the ability to pay – access to a dentist. Last year, 71 medical and non-medical volunteers provided care to more than 100 Windham County residents. According to the United Way of Windham County, combined, the following dental offices provided over $53,500 of pro bono dental care: Connecticut Valley Oral Surgery, Deerfield Valley Dental Care, Dental Health, Estey Dental, Professional Dental Care, Dr. Suzanne West, and West River Family Dental.
Per capita, Vermonters consumed $9,539 in health care for 2016, according to the most recent Vermont Health Care Expenditure Analysis Report (VHCEA) submitted to the Green Mountain Care Board. This amount is slightly lower than the national average. According to the VHCEA, almost 90 percent of what Vermonters pay for dental care is out-of-pocket. This has led some people in Windham County to miss routine cleanings or seek help for more serious issues. As a result, last year, United Way of Windham County’s Executive Director Carman Derby announced that her organization would partner with BMH on the new clinic.
The dental clinic will be at 375 Canal Street, it has three dental chairs, and a local dentist has signed on to work in the clinic three days a week, said President and CEO Steven R. Gordon. The United Way of Windham County is in the process of hiring additional clinic staff. Gordon said that clinic is slated to open in May.
He spoke with admiration for the United Way staff who Gordon said, “Have done all the heavy lifting on this project.”
Gordon said the clinic is the result of a lot of donated time, materials, and elbow grease. The hospital is donating the space, local company Horizon Dental donated the equipment, and several local contractors made renovation possible, he said.
“It’s been a phenomenal community endeavor,” he said. “And the focus of it is to serve the Medicaid adults in our community that have very limited access to preventative dental care.”
The clinic will serve all patients regardless of their ability to pay, he added.
In general BMH is doing well, Gordon said. It is in the middle of permitting to expand the hospital. Gordon said recruiting new physicians to fill the vacancies left by retiring doctors is going well.
“If you can ever replace someone who has been in your community for 30 years,” Gordon said.
Also in the works: a partnership with Vermont Technical College and the Windham Regional Career Center to train students to become LNAs and LPNs.
“We’ve done a lot with reaching out to higher education,” he said. “We’ve had a long-standing program with Community College of Vermont in terms of a medical assistant program.”
Gordon estimates that the medical assistant program is now in its third or fourth year. As part of the program, BMH provides eight full scholarships. Students also have an opportunity to intern at the hospital during their studies with the potential to be hired after successfully completing the program.
“We are now in the black which is a good thing to be at this point in time” he added.
Some of the things that have helped the hospital’s bottom line is recruiting new doctors and an increase of clients using the hospital’s services.