SUNBURY — After more than two years, the Susquehanna River Valley Dental Health Clinic will reopen in November to serve needy patients in Northumberland, Snyder and Union counties.
Dr. Philip Sosland, chairman of the clinic’s board of directors, said the tentative opening date has been set for Nov. 2, spurred forward sooner than anticipated by more than $80,000 in funding.
Keri Albright, Greater Susquehanna Valley United Way president and chief executive officer, said the organization, which along with the Central Susquehanna Community Foundation, is serving as the legal incorporator of the clinic, has provided the clinic with a $36,000 loan to get started. The clinic could be eligible for additional funding if granted member-agency status, Albright said.
Additional funding has come from the Central Susquehanna Community Foundation in the amount of $22,000 and an anonymous Sunbury family in the amount of $25,000.
“The dental clinic is going to serve mostly people on welfare and people that have a certain income level below which we are eligible to provide dental service,” Sosland said.
The clinic will be at 335 Market St., the same location as the original clinic, which opened in 2003 and was operated by ACTION Health, a partnership that provides health outreach and education. That clinic closed in 2007, said Allison Clark, executive director of ACTION Health, due to the lack of a dentist.
“United Way believes that this clinic will continue to be operational for years to come because of its oversight by a dedicated board of directors, and will not succumb to what’s happened in the past when it closed,” Albright said. “The dentists, above all people, understand the need for this kind of clinic and are so committed to getting and keeping it open.”
Equipment already is in place for the new clinic because it was saved when the old clinic closed, Albright said.
Estimates are that the clinic will need just over $300,000 a year to operate. Start-up funding is critical, Sosland said, because the clinic will not generate its own revenue until about three to four months after opening.
Though the clinic will serve low-income patients, procedures will not be offered for free, Albright said.
Fees will be assessed for procedures conducted at the clinic and paid through managed care programs, Medicaid or through a fee schedule based on household income for those who have no insurance.
“That fee schedule has not been determined yet,” said Albright, who estimated the clinic will serve 325 adult and child patients in the first year and double that the following year.
Services at the clinic will include treatment for cavities and periodontal disease, tooth extractions, root canals, fixed and removable dental prosthetics and preventative treatments, such as cleanings, exams, sealants, fluoride and education about how to care for teeth.
“A lot of people don’t realize how important it is to take care of their teeth,” Sosland said. “It’s just not a matter of filling a hole in a tooth, it’s the matter of a whole healthy person.”
Recent medical studies have linked poor oral hygiene to cancer and heart disease, he said. Additionally, untreated oral infections can, in extreme cases, lead to death.
“It’s not just the mouth, it’s the mouth and its relationship to the whole body,” Sosland said.
Sosland said plans are to hire Berwick dentist Ken Foster to see patients at the clinic, as well as a part-time hygienist, a secretary and dental assistant.
The clinic will be open for appointments Mondays through Thursdays from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. and on Fridays from 8 to noon.
Members of the clinic board include attorney JoAnn Lawer, of Selinsgrove; Dr. Lance Kisby, of Danville; Dr. Drew Wetzel, of Northumberland; Dr. John Holmes, of Mifflinburg; Harry Roberts, of Sunbury; Dr. Michelle Yearick, of Lewisburg; Brian Neitz, of Sunbury; Valerie Ustinovich, of Lewisburg; and George Fecker, of Sunbury.
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Dental health clinic to reopen
Sunbury site will serve people on welfare, others who are needy
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