Two community dental clinics to receive $10,000 grant from Delta Dental of Pennsylvania

Two community dental clinics that provide much-needed services to low-income people who lack access to care will receive a $10,000 grant from Delta Dental of Pennsylvania.

“Our clinics are a great story of good people coming together to help neighbors in need”

The grant will directly reimburse clinic dentists for their services to patients who have unmet dental needs and who are unable to pay on their own for those services.

The first grant installment of $5,000 was presented Thursday to the James W. Barner Community Dental Clinics of the Partnership for a Healthy Community, which provides oral health care services for those with limited access to care due to medical conditions, disability or limited financial resources. The two clinics collectively serve about 7,500 patients a year, including more than 4,000 children.

The Partnership was created by and operates as an affiliate of Altoona Regional Health System. The children's clinic is located in and operated in partnership with the Greater Altoona Career and Technology Center.

Although about half of the clinics' patients are beneficiaries under dental Medicaid or Medicaid Managed Care, many lack any financial resources to help pay for care. The clinic provides these patients approximately $100,000 per year in services such as dental screenings, restorations and emergency care.

"Our clinics are a great story of good people coming together to help neighbors in need," said Jerry Murray, president and CEO of Altoona Regional Health System. "We have been blessed by the hard work of devoted and community-minded individuals who turned a dream into reality.

"Generous partners such as Delta Dental help us keep the dream alive. And we thank Dr. Donald Betar, clinical director, who was instrumental in securing this grant."

The clinics serve an eight-county area (Blair, Centre, Huntingdon, Fulton, Bedford, Cambria, Clearfield, and Clinton). They are the area's largest provider of oral health care services to patients with limited resources.

"These two clinics routinely absorb the cost of urgent and emergency care for the dentally underserved," said Gary D. Radine, Delta Dental president and CEO. "We're pleased that this grant will go directly toward paying for this care. The grant is consistent with our mission to expand access to care for as many people as possible."