David Tassoni, left, the manager of athenahealth locally, presents Belfast Public Health Nurse Shannon Robbins, RN, with a check for $10,000 to help with the services of Waldo County Dental Care. Also on hand for the presentation were Dan Bennett, Director of Operations at Waldo County General Hospital, and Michelle Gallant, the hygienist at Waldo County Dental Care.
Waldo County Dental Care has been awarded a $10,000 grant from athenahealth. Employees in all athenahealth campuses nominate groups for grants under a given category for each quarter. All athenahealth employees vote and the top three are awarded funds. The category for this past quarter was “health clinics.”
Athenahealth employee Donna Berry from the Belfast office nominated Waldo County Dental Care to be on the ballot for the campaign. The Dental Clinic was the only group in Maine to be selected to receive funds for the second quarter 2013 campaign.
According to the nomination sheet, “Waldo County adults who lack dental insurance and have low incomes have difficulty accessing oral health services due to insurmountable cost barriers. Many of them live with severely rotted, infected teeth and gums which cause them to miss work and/or have difficulty obtaining jobs.”
In response, Waldo County Healthcare has opened Waldo County Dental Care and hired a part-time hygienist to provide cleaning and oral health screening for a small co-payment. Four local dentists have volunteered to provide dental care at vastly reduced rates for those with high priority needs. The goal of the program is to prevent dental crises from occurring by making affordable preventive and restorative care available in Waldo County by offering a dental “safety net.”