Agenda - 04-06-2010 - 4a - Laserfiche WebLink

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4 1 Commissioner Yuhasz said that he has a foot in each board and he started with the 2 dental clinic. He said that the Board of County Commissioners does not want to lose services 3 that they have now and the Board of Health wants to put the resources to the best possible use 4 and these two are in conflict. He said that there are both efficiencies and health concerns 5 involved and there are political concerns involved and those two do not always lead to the same 6 conclusion. 7 Dr. Paul Chelminski said that, in a period of strained resources, the idea of focusing 8 energies at one center is more efficient. The most efficient center might be Hillsborough. 9 Anisa Vines said that the Board of Health gets complaints from the dental clinic in Carr 10 Mill Mall about not being able to get appointments or call backs. She said that they have talked 11 about the limitations of the dental clinic for the past 2-3 years. She said that there is not the 12 space or the resources to provide the services that are needed. 13 Commissioner Gordon said that if there is only one center in Hillsborough then people 14 will have to travel to get to the clinic in Chapel Hill. Chapel Hill and Carrboro have fare free 15 buses and there is a 420 bus service between Chapel Hill and Hillsborough. She said that the 16 geographical center is in Hillsborough but the population center is in Chapel Hill and Carrboro. 17 There is a part of the CIP to build a dental clinic at the Southern Human Services Center. She 18 said that it is a complex issue to have only one center since travel is the main concern. She 19 said that most people coming into Hillsborough will most likely be driving. She thinks that these 20 things have to be considered and transportation is the key issue. 21 Commissioner Hemminger asked about the expansion of moving into the other part of 22 the Whiffed Building and if this would enable them to increase services in Hillsborough and 23 Rosemary Summers said that the combination of the resources and the two clinics is what 24 would enable them to see more patients. It would be more efficient to have one site and they 25 could see more patients at the one site than they can at the two separate sites currently. 26 Commissioner Hemminger asked Rosemary Summers to walk through how someone 27 living in Carrboro could get an appointment at the Hillsborough dental clinic. Rosemary 28 Summers said that they schedule the appointments in one-hour slots and they.pretty much keep 29 to that pace. She said that the fact is that there are many more resources in the southern part 30 of the County for people to access than there are in the northern part of the County. This is one 31 of the factors taken into consideration in making the proposal to locate the service in the 32 northern part of the County. 33 Dr. Paul Chelminski said that unless there is a commitment to fund the ability to have 34 two sites and to get better quality equipment, then there cannot be two sites. He said that 35 something has to change because the dental school is not carrying its weight and Piedmont 36 Health cannot cover everyone else. He is very concerned about access to care. 37 Commissioner Jacobs said that the Board of County Commissioners discussed this at a 38 work session and there was a suggestion of surveying the users and seeing where they come 39 from and getting a better demographic picture. He said that this bleeds into the discussion of 40 whether or not to plan to build a dental clinic at the Southern Human Services Center. This has 41 been in the CIP. He asked if the Board of Health has discussed this. 42 Annisa Vines said that the Board of Health has talked about the extra footprint that is at 43 Southern, but the issue is complex (funding, why should it be at this location, etc.). She said 44 that staff is running ragged and it is a strain and not satisfying to patients. 45 Frank Clifton said that it has been pointed out that jurisdictions with a considerable 46 population and a considerable land area find it more effective to concentrate resources at some 47 location and make the best of it. He said that if you are going to have a double service, then 48 . you need to buy duplicate equipment and the County cannot afford that now. He said that the 49 County should not provide second rate service with second rate equipment. At this time, there 50 are two facilities, but only one is open at a time.