Community Project Funding/Congressionally Directed Spending - Construction - Project Title: Champlain Islands Health Center - Dental Applicant Organization Name: Community Health Centers of Burlington, Inc. Project Address: 52 Community Lane, South Hero, VT 05486 Project Director Name: Jeffrey McKee, Psy.D. Contact Phone Numbers: (802) 264-8190 E-Mail Address: jmckee@chcb.org Website Address: www.chcb.org Grant Program Funds Requested in Application: $1,000,000 The HRSA CDS (Construction) project involves the build-out of a new dental center at the Community Health Centers of Burlington’s (CHCB) existing Champlain Islands Health Center (CIHC), which currently offers medical and psychiatry/mental health services only. When CHCB completed construction of CIHC in 2016, the approximately 2,000 square foot lower level of the facility was reserved for the future home of a dental center, to be completed at a time when a funding opportunity arose. Now is that time! The funds for this project will be utilized to transform the pre-existing space into a dental practice through the construction of five dental operatories; a lab and sterilization room; patient waiting area; storage areas; and staff areas such as a collaborative office, a changing area, break room, and restroom. Established in 2004, CHCB’s Dental Program is the sole point of access to quality, affordable dental services for over 7,000 Vermonters annually; however, access to dental care is extremely limited in Vermont’s Champlain Islands. Grand Isle County is the only county in Vermont with no reported dental practice. Traveling long distances to access dental care presents a burden to the residents of South Hero, North Hero, and Grand Isle, the towns that comprise southern Grand Isle County. Approximately 30% of residents in this region are aged 60 years and over (US Census ACS 2019), so there are issues of transportation and financial means. Additionally, very few private dental practices in neighboring counties accept Medicaid, a significant barrier for the almos
t 18% of CIHC patients who are Medicaid recipients. In fact, approximately 15% of the population of southern Grand Isle County is considered low-income (below 200% FPL). Grand Isle is also home to a large population of migrant workers who often have little to no access to transportation. According to 2018 county-level data available in the UDS Mapper Tool, approximately 25% of adults in southern Grand Isle County “had no dental visit in the past year.” This has certainly been exacerbated because of the COVID-19 outbreak, which resulted in a trend of people forgoing preventive care appointments. The local senior community and youth are the two demographics hardest hit by a lack of local dental services. To help reach them, we will partner with the Champlain Islanders Developing Essential Resources (C.I.D.E.R.) organization. C.I.D.E.R. provides transportation to seniors and those with limited mobility, which will empower this population within the region to attend to their oral health. In addition, senior living apartments currently under construction directly behind the CIHC ensures residents literally have dental care in their back yard. Additionally, we will use our school-based dental program expertise to help meet the dental needs of children enrolled in the Grand Isle Supervisory Union. The Islands model will transport students from their schools to CIHC through our partnership with C.I.D.E.R. This will help many parents who are lacking in transportation or the flexibility to take time off from work to bring their children to appointments. Lastly, having this location will also free up space to offer a training site for General Practice Dental Residents, making CHCB a supportive educator to the next generation of dentists. This new dental center will provide high-quality oral hygiene and preventive care, while also offering services unique to a FQHC. We anticipate most of our 2,467 existing CIHC patients will become our dental patients, if not more from neighb
oring areas.
