Ryan White Title III HIV Capacity Development and Planning Grants - Applicant: Northeast Valley Health Corporation (NEVHC) Address: 1172 North Maclay Avenue, San Fernando, CA 91340 Contact Phone: (818) 898-1388 FAX: (818) 365-7670 Website Address: www.nevhc.org Health Center Program Grant #: H80CS00139 Project Title: FY 2025 RWHAP Part C Capacity Development Program NEVHC, a Federally Qualified Health Center (FQHC), respectfully requests $150,000 from the FY 25 RWHAP Part C Capacity Development Program to help expand our capacity to serve as a “safety net” dental provider for low-income and un-/underserved, predominantly Latino people living with HIV (PLWH) who are residents of the West San Fernando Valley of Los Angeles County (West Valley). More specifically, under the Infrastructure Development category, funds will be used to purchase dental equipment for a new NEVHC clinic site in the West Valley, which is scheduled to open by December 2025. Short Project Description: To increase our capacity to provide comprehensive oral health services for low-income and underserved PLWH, particularly those who live in the West Valley, NEVHC will open the 13,200 sq. ft. 13-exam room, 5-dental operatory Reseda Health Center (RHC). Located at 6416 Tampa Ave, Reseda, California 91335, the RHC will target residents who live in the West Valley zip codes of 91335 (Reseda), 91306 (Winnetka), 91303 (Canoga Park) and 91406 (Van Nuys), which includes over 1,600 PLWH. According to the Health Center Program (HCP) GeoCare Navigator, of the 211,834 residents who live in our four target West Valley zip codes, 36% (75,209) are low-income and 15% (32,341) live in poverty. Also, more than half (54%; 114,451) are Latino. Currently, there are no FQHCs in the West Valley providing comprehensive safety-net dentistry. Not surprisingly, the West Valley community of Reseda is considered to be a Dental Health Provider Shortage Area (HRSA, 2024). As such, our new NEVHC RHC will provide comprehensive dentistry, i.e., cleaning, x-ray, extractions, crown placement, full denture application on upper and lower arches, etc., and will mark our third Dental Clinic site (out of 8 organization wide) that will be staffed with culturally competent dentists and bilingual (English/Spanish) support staff who are specially trained on the unique oral health needs, i.e., gum disease, canker sores, thrush and other infections, risks for oral cancer, etc., of PLWH. Summary of the Proposed Activity: The requested FY 2025 RWHAP Part C Capacity Development Program funds will be used to purchase equipment, i.e., 4 dental chairs, a custom stericenter, 4 cabinet dividers, etc., for the 5-operatory RHC Dental Clinic. This project will significantly strengthen NEVHC’s capacity to provide high quality comprehensive primary health care services for PLWH in our service area, L.A. County’s San Fernando and Santa Clarita valleys. As it stands, our flaghship HIV primary care site that provides highly active antiretroviral therapy, medical care coordination, case management, STI testing and treatment, Hepatitis-C treatment, behavioral health and SUD counseling, etc., is in the heart of Van Nuys, CA and has no physical space to add a dental clinic suite. Thus, to meet the demand, our San Fernando Health Center Dental Clinic, 10 miles away, and Transitions To Wellness Van Nuys Health Center Dental Clinic offer dedicated HIV dental sessions. Community demographic statistics and internal reports, however, indicate that demand for “HIV dentistry” is much greater among our West Valley-based patients. Furthermore, our organization is anticipating changes in California’s health care landscape, which may lead to fewer CA dentists accepting Medi-Cal or Denti-Cal patients. Funding Amount Requested: $150,000.
