Project Title: Chestnut Health Center Dental Clinic Project Address/Location: Chestnut Family Health Center, 720 W. Chestnut Street, Bloomington, IL 61701 Project Director: Dietra Kulicke, Vice President of Integrated Care Contact Phone Number/Email Address: 309-557-1437/Dkulicke@chestnut.org Website: www.chestnut.org Children living in poverty are five times more likely to have fair or poor oral health compared to other children. Children living in McLean County, Illinois are no different. 17 percent of kindergarteners, 16.5 percent of second graders, and 10.5 percent of sixth graders had untreated dental caries noted on their 2013/2014 dental exam. The County’s largest school districts have the highest non-compliance rates for oral exams and trends more unfavorably from kindergarten to sixth grade. Sadly, lack of dental care has been identified as one of the top 5 health issues in the community health needs assessments since 2014. 50 percent of McLean County’s Medicaid recipients have never seen a dentist. The average cost of a Medicaid enrollee’s inpatient hospital treatment for dental problems is nearly ten times higher than the cost of preventive care delivered in a dentist’s office. Evidence indicates a clear relationship between poor oral health and poor health and health outcomes. Lower income, uninsured or underinsured individuals receive less preventive oral health care and are frequently diagnosed at more advanced states of disease than those with insurance and oral health coverage. Additionally, uninsured individuals receive fewer preventive services, are less likely to receive regular care, and are more likely to be treated for an oral health problem that could have been prevented. In McLean County, 19.3% of the population is uninsured. In addition, 14.5% of County residents are living below the federal poverty level. At the 50th – 75th percentile range, this rate is the worst compared to other counties in Illinois.
In terms of access to dental care in McLean County, there are 65 dentists per 100,000 residents. This ratio is worse than the Illinois ratio (75 dentists/100,000) (Conduent Healthy Communities Institute, County Health Rankings, 2016). Chestnut Health Systems, Inc. (“Chestnut”) opened a federally-qualified health center in 2012 intended to be a solution for the medically underserved residents of McLean County. We quickly outgrew our original location at 720 West Chestnut Street in Bloomington, Illinois. With the support of the medical and dental communities, Chestnut renovated and expanded its adjacent building located at 702 West Chestnut Street in 2019. This 32,000 square foot building now houses Chestnut’s state-of-the-art federally qualified health center. Chestnut desires to repurpose its original space located at 720 West Chestnut Street to add a dental service offering for the underserved population of McLean County and seeks $430,000 in capital support for the construction. If funded, the space would include a waiting area, reception, vitals stations, 4 dental operatories, lab, offices and shared workspace to accommodate 5 dental staff, including 1 dentists and 2 hygienists. Oral health services provided will include basic dental screenings, oral health hygiene instruction and education, oral prophylaxis, application of fluorides, placement of dental sealants and X-rays. Additionally, based on identified patient and community need, Chestnut plans to offer additional dental services, such as diagnosis and treatment of tooth ailments. According to the United Way of McLean County’s 2014 Community Needs Assessment, 39.1 percent of McLean County residents are without dental insurance. A federally qualified health center providing oral health services is the most affordable way for McLean County to meet the needs of our most impoverished and marginalized citizens.