Maine Health Access Foundation Awards Funds to PCHC Dental Center to Strengthen Services
The Maine Health Access Foundation (MeHAF) has announced the award of $148,568 to five nonprofit dental clinics that are part of Maine’s oral health safety net to strengthen their capacity to provide high quality, affordable dental care for low-income Mainers. PCHC Dental Center was the recipient of a $25,000 award as part of this grant.
All of the clinics recently completed comprehensive individual practice improvement and business plans detailing actions that could improve the efficiency and long-term viability of their practices. This planning process was done with the help of the DentaQuest Institute’s Safety Net Solutions program. The grants will allow the five clinics to implement critical pieces of their viability plans.
Maine’s oral health safety net is made up of a number of independent clinics, volunteer oral health providers and federally qualified community health centers. This small network provides critical services to children and adults who often have limited means to pay for dental services and rely on the safety net clinics to get the care they need.
“Preventive and restorative dental care are critical to good oral health. Everyone needs access to these services,” noted MeHAF’s Vice President for Programs Barbara Leonard. “Kids need to be pain-free to learn at school, and for adults, good oral health can be an important factor in getting and keeping a job. The oral health safety net helps everyone to have better access to dental care, especially people in rural areas or with low incomes.”
PCHC Dental Center is the largest public or private dental practice north of Boston, and host to an Accredited Community General Practice Dental Residency. PCHC offers a full range of quality dental services for people of all ages. Using the latest in oral health technology combined with compassionate, knowledgeable staff, PCHC Dental Center focuses not only on preventative care, but offers specialty care for a variety of dental issues.
About Maine Health Access Foundation
The Maine Health Access Foundation (MeHAF) is Maine’s largest, private, nonprofit health care foundation dedicated to promoting access to quality health care, especially for those who are uninsured and underserved, and improving the health of everyone in Maine. MeHAF uses its grant resources and expertise to identify and move forward key initiatives and issues to improve Maine’s health care system so people across every region of our state have access to quality care for better health. To learn more about MeHAF, visit www.mehaf.org.