Friday, April 4, 2025
4/4/2025
Dental Reimbursement Program - ORAL HEALTH EDUCATION Nassau Health Care Corporation 2201 Hempstead Turnpike East Meadow, NY 11554 Project Director – Eileen Chun, DDS (516) 572-8775 echun@numc.edu https://www.numc.edu Funds Requested: $37,161 The continuous objective of our project is to provide greater accessibility to oral health care as well as oral hygiene education to our patient population affected with HIV/AIDS. While Dental Medicine is an integral piece of the primary care puzzle for all patients, it is unfortunately often overlooked in this specific patient population. We are currently servicing a New York State Designated Low Primary Access Area and Nassau University Medical Center serves as an AIDS Center, which provides out-patient and in-patient care to those infected with HIV and AIDS. Increased funding afforded by this grant will allow us to render those services and provide the education that the grant wishes to address. Our location, our mission as a public hospital, and the physical proximity to the Infectious Disease Clinic at our institution, enables us to treat a large number of patients with HIV/AIDS. As such, we are also in a position to expand treatment to this population with the expertise and with the protocols already in place. We believe that the expansion of treatment should include not only a physical upgrade of the space, but more importantly, the development of a practical oral hygiene education initiative targeted at this patient population. The Ryan White Grant will be used to continuously upgrade the equipment and infrastructure of the Dental Department so as to ensure that the facilities remain on the forefront of technology in order to provide the best possible treatment to this patient population. Although clinical as well as didactic programs are already in place to educate residents and staff to recognize and treat HIV/AIDS oral manifestations, the grant will also afford the program the opportunity to use the increased resources to provide innovative and practical oral health/hygiene education to the HIV/AIDS patient population whom we serve. For example, the purchase of a centrifuge machine using the Ryan White grant funds will enable us to explore the use of PRF in aiding in the healing of surgical sites. The ability to serve this patient population using innovative, cutting-edge technology is made possible by this grant. Our Work Plan for 2022-2023 is the continuation of existing trends of increasing primary care, treatment of the underserved populations, creation of more community linkages, innovative teaching methods and continuously provide up-to-date equipment enhancements to better treat the growing community. This upcoming year we plan to create a warm, inviting waiting area to increase comfort while patients wait to be seen. We hope that in creating a comfortable waiting area patients will be more inclined to seek dental care on a regular basis.
HHS’ Tracking Accountability in Government Grants System (TAGGS) website provides access to detailed descriptions of grants, loans, aggregated direct payments and other types of financial assistance awarded by the HHS Operating Divisions (OPDIVs) and the Office of the Secretary Staff Divisions (STAFFDIVs).