Northwest health center awarded $350,000
The Northwest Community Health Center in Libby will receive $350,000 from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services as part of a national effort to increase dental health services in rural communities.
Health and Human Services Secretary Sylvia M. Burwell announced on Thursday that Libby was one of three health centers in Montana that received a portion of the $1,050,000 set aside for the effort.
“Oral health is an important part of our overall physical health and well-being,” Burwell said in a prepared statement. “The funding we are awarding will reduce barriers to quality dental care for hundreds of thousands of Americans by bringing new oral health providers to health centers across the country.”
The funding aims to increase access to integrated oral health care services and increase the number of patients served. Maria Clemons, director of the Northwest Community Health Center, said the addition will be located in the upcoming Troy facility. The oral health services provided there will serve patients that usually travel hours to Libby for services.
“We see a lot of people from the surrounding areas that have to travel,” Clemons said. “Some people as far as Heron or Plains, so it will provide another access point for people traveling long distances.”
Clemons said the $350,000 will allow the health center to hire on a new dentist, hygienist and a dental assistant in the future Troy facility. Clemons said she expects crews to break ground on that facility in West Troy in the next 30-60 days.
Other clinics in Montana receiving grants are Bighorn Valley Health Center in Hardin and Yellowstone City-County Health Department in Billings.
Nationwide, Thursday’s announcement included nearly $156 million in funding to support 420 health centers in 47 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico.
With the awards from the Health Resources and Services Administration, health centers across the country could increase oral health service by hiring roughly 1,600 new dentists, dental hygienists, assistants, aides, and technicians to treat a target of 785,000 new patients.
The department’s Acting Administrator Jim Macrae said oral health problems can be a sign of illness elsewhere in the body.
Lack of access to preventive and routine dental care for underserved populations can also result in dental conditions requiring more costly emergency dental treatment.
“HRSA will continue to explore ways to further integrate oral health services within primary care settings, and increase awareness of the connection between oral health and overall health,” Macrae said.
Today, nearly 1,400 health centers operate approximately 9,800 service delivery sites in every U.S. state, D.C., Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands and the Pacific Basin. In 2014, those health centers employed more than 3,700 dentists, 1,600 dental hygienists and 7,400 dental assistants, technicians and aides. They served about 4.7 million dental patients and provided nearly 12 million oral health visits.
Thursday’s announcement of the $350,000 in funding is the second financial support package Lincoln County received last week after Montana State University office received $18,000 for asbestos exposure research.
Jean Pfau, Ph.D., of MSU’s Department of microbiology and immunology, said the grant will be used to provide national attention to the discoveries made related to Libby asbestos. Pfau, working with Deborah Keil, Ph. D., also of the microbiology and immunology department, will partner with the National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health to organize two workshops for asbestos scientists and discuss nomenclature and research approaches. The mission of the workshop is to guide approaches in advancing asbestos health research and to lead recommendations on how to assess them. The workshop is planned for September 7-9 in Maryland.