Guest post by Carmen Fields, DentaQuest Foundation Associate Director National Programs
Three of the DentaQuest Foundation’s Oral Health 2014 Initiative state coalition participants – Oregon Oral Health Coalition, South Carolina Rural Health Research Center and West Virginia Department of Health and Human Services– leveraged their planning and outreach developed with the Foundation’s support and resources to land federal grants from the Department of Health and Human Services/ Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA). All three state coalitions received HRSA State Oral Health Workforce Grants for projects running from 2012-2015.
The Oregon
Oral Health Coalition received a more than $800,000 grant to
support oral health workforce activities. By partnering with the Oregon Health and Science University, the Oregon
Office of Rural Health, the
State of Oregon’s Medicaid division, the Oregon
Dental Hygienists Association, and others, the coalition’s project will
focus on dental sealants with specific aims to:
South
Carolina’s Director of the Division of Oral Health Christine Veschusio spoke to
me about how DentaQuest Foundation’s Oral Health 2014 grant has helped the
coalition prepare to apply for additional funding under HRSA.
Three of the DentaQuest Foundation’s Oral Health 2014 Initiative state coalition participants – Oregon Oral Health Coalition, South Carolina Rural Health Research Center and West Virginia Department of Health and Human Services– leveraged their planning and outreach developed with the Foundation’s support and resources to land federal grants from the Department of Health and Human Services/ Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA). All three state coalitions received HRSA State Oral Health Workforce Grants for projects running from 2012-2015.
Launched
in 2011, Oral Health 2014 is a national movement to reverse profound oral
health disparities in the United States.
The Oregon
Oral Health Coalition received a more than $800,000 grant to
support oral health workforce activities. By partnering with the Oregon Health and Science University, the Oregon
Office of Rural Health, the
State of Oregon’s Medicaid division, the Oregon
Dental Hygienists Association, and others, the coalition’s project will
focus on dental sealants with specific aims to: - expand preventive dental
through a school-based dental
sealant program by using a broad network of practice dental hygienists;
- increase access to service in
rural and frontier schools; and
- create a statewide certification process to ensure high quality and appropriate services are provided at schools.
When
recently speaking to the Oregon Oral Health Coalition’s Program Manager Shanie
Mason, who is also a member of the Oral Health 2014 Coalition, she expressed to
me her enthusiasm about the grant.
“This
is about creating a system,” said Mason. “We are enlisting a comprehensive
approach that looks at delivering sealants from a variety of perspectives—not
just a singular program.”
Meanwhile, South
Carolina Rural Health Research Center received a similar grant of $1.5 million.
The center’s activities under the HRSA grant will focus on many of its same Oral
Health 2014 objectives—public health infrastructure, access to preventive care
and safety net enhancements.
South
Carolina’s Director of the Division of Oral Health Christine Veschusio spoke to
me about how DentaQuest Foundation’s Oral Health 2014 grant has helped the
coalition prepare to apply for additional funding under HRSA.
“The
Oral Health 2014 planning grant positioned our state so that we could secure
funding from multiple sources ensuring synergistic success on multiple fronts,”
Veschusio said. “Since the HRSA State Oral Health Workforce grant was released
during the Oral Health 2014 planning year, we were positioned to leverage both
opportunities. HRSA supported the infrastructure for the demonstration project
for which we received DentaQuest Foundation funding.”
West Virginia Department
of Health and Human Services also received a HRSA Oral Health Workforce
Grant of $1.5 million to be used to address dental graduate retention within
West Virginia and help improve access to care.
When
I spoke to West Virginia State Dental Director Dr. Jason Roush, he conveyed his
excitement for the grant.
“Through
funding from the DentaQuest
Foundation and others, West Virginia now has the infrastructure in place to
compete for federal funding,” said Dr. Roush.
We
at the DentaQuest Foundation are honored to be a part of these three state
coalitions’ progression. In total, eighteen state coalitions have moved into
the second phase of the DentaQuest Foundation’s Oral Health 2014 Initiative,
receiving support for the implementation of their 2011 plans.
The
Oral Health 2014 initiative’s motto is “Advancing Local Leaders for National
Impact.” The DentaQuest Foundation plans to award up to 10 additional planning
grants to states in 2013.
To
learn more about the DentaQuest Foundation’s Oral Health 2014, visit http://www.dentaquestfoundation.org/programs/oral-health-2014.