Carrboro Dental Clinic Consolidation
Frequently Asked Questions (English)
Preguntas Frecuentes
Hillsborough Dental Clinic Renovation
The Hillsborough Dental Clinic is located on the ground floor of the Whitted Human Services Center (300 W. Tryon Street in Hillsborough). Dental patients currently walk through the medical clinic to enter the dental clinic check-in area. The health department received additional space in the Whitted building in 2010. This addition of space allows the department to expand its Hillsborough health and dental clinic facilities. The dental clinic will expand from a four exam room facility to an eight exam room facility.
Timeline
Dental clinic renovations will begin on July 11, 2011 and end October 2011 (unless there are unexpected construction issues). The health department has terminated its lease for dental space at Carr Mill Mall and is now providing services full-time in it Hillsborough location.
Client Notification
The health department will continue to inform patients about the move and public transportation options. We will also contact dental providers in Chapel Hill and Carrboro that accept Medicaid patients to determine whether we can refer patients who choose not to travel to Hillsborough to their practices.
Background (Decision to Move the Carrboro Dental Clinic)
Orange County is in the top three counties in the state for oral health statistics. Our dental clinical services began in the early 1980’s through a grant and operated at the same level it does today – two days per week in Carrboro and two and one-half days per week in Hillsborough. Dental Health Services staff split their time between the Carrboro Hillsborough locations. The Carrboro clinic is vacant three days per week and the Hillsborough clinic vacant 2.5 days per week.
During the last three budget years, county management condsidered dental services as an elimination option. Health departments are not required to provide dental clinical services unless there is insufficient access to services in the county and the service can be funded. Only 39 of the 85 health departments in the state provide dental clinical services. With a few exceptions, counties that provide dental services do so in a single location and are required by their county to provide those services at a break-even point.
Key points about the county's decision to combine dental clinics:
- The Board of Health studied options for service delivery and concluded that combining services in Hillsborough was the most efficient use of staff and equipment.
- The Board of Health recognized that the health department could not offer dual clinical services with full-time staff in both locations due to fiscal considerations.
- The Board of Health sent recommendations to the Orange County Board of County Commissioners in April 2010.
- The Board of Health realized that Carrboro patients' ability to access services in Hillsborough may be difficult and requested that health department staff investigate public transportation options and the possibility of offering of bus vouchers to Carrboro dental clinic patients without personal transportation.
- On September 21, 2011, the Board of County Commissioners accepted the Board of Health’s recommendation to: (1) Consolidate services in Hillsborough with an eight chair clinic in 2010-2011; (2) Add staff to fully use the clinic in 2012-13; and (3) Begin planning to add a second clinic by 2021. Meeting Minutes
The Orange County Health Department is committed to continue dental clinical services for Orange County adults and children and will serve clients in both locations until the renovation of the Hillsborough clinic is complete. As always we are available for any Orange County resident.