Ryan White Title III HIV Capacity Development and Planning Grants - Project Title: FY2024 RWHAP Part C Capacity Development Program Applicant Organization Name: PanCare of Florida Address: 403 East 11th St, Panama City, FL 32401 Project Director Name: Robert Thompson, President & CEO Contact Phone Numbers: (Voice) 850-747-5599; (Fax) 850-872-4131 E-Mail Address: rthompson@pancarefl.org Web Site Address, if applicable: https://pancarefl.org Grant program funds requested in the application: $150,000 Funding Preference: Rural Areas and Underserved Populations Project Category. Infrastructure Development: Expanding Dental Service Capacity Needs to be addressed. The PanCare Ryan White service area includes Bay, Calhoun, Gulf, Holmes, Jackson, and Washington counties, Florida. As of December 2022, there were 1,178 people with HIV (PWH) in the PanCare service area. The number of people newly diagnosed with HIV is increasing, with 54 new diagnoses in 2022 compared to 19 in 2020 (Bureau of Communicable Diseases, FL Department of Health, 3/2024). There is just one dentist for every 19,622 low-income residents of the service area, indicating a severe shortage of dental health services available to PanCare’s target population (HPSA Data, HRSA Data Explorer, 2024). Between 32% and 46% of PWH will have at least one major oral health problem in the course of their disease. Despite this need, an estimated 58% to 64% of PWH do not receive regular dental care. PWH who are people of color are particularly at risk for unmet oral health care needs. Barriers to receiving oral health care include lack of insurance, lack of income, and lack of providers (“Oral Health and HIV,” The Ryan White HIV/AIDS Program, HRSA, 2019). Proposed services. PanCare’s existing site in Chipley, FL in Washington County is a leased, three-exam medical suite within a shopping complex with other businesses and restaurants. Demand exceeds capacity at the site, and the suite does not have any space to expand. In May 2023, PanCare purchased a new facility at 1440 Main Street, Chipley, Florida as a replacement for its existing site in Chipley. In part with CARE funds, PanCare is renovating and expanding the facility so that it will house medical, behavioral, oral health, and pharmacy services and open by 12/31/2024. The finished site will have five medical exams, four dental operatories, a dental x-ray room, a dental lab, a nurses’ station, three offices, a staff break room, two restrooms, a large lobby with reception area, and a large pharmacy with storage and drive through. The facility already has a generator, which will allow PanCare not only to expand access but to continue provision of services during and after an emergency. PanCare requests Part C Capacity Development funds to secure the acquisition of dental equipment for the dental operatories in the newly renovated Chipley site. The Chipley site is central to PanCare’s Part C service area as well as to the Panhandle more generally. Expanded oral health access will help alleviate the extremely limited availability of oral health services to PWH. This increase in service capacity will support expansion of the provision of oral health care, which is an essential part of engagement and retention in care for PWH and an essential aspect of health care more generally for PWH. Population group(s) to be served. PWH in Florida face a series of barriers to oral health care: overall access in the state is already limited, both by the number of dentists in the state and by residents’ lack of insurance or financial resources for oral health care. For PWH receiving care at PanCare in 2023, 64.7% had incomes below Federal Poverty Guidelines and 36.7% were uninsured; only 28.6% received oral health care services (RSR).
