Minutes 04-14-2015 - BOH - Early

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Colleen Bridger distributed and reviewed a hand out. She said the first graph shows that before closing the Southern Human Services Center clinic the average annual revenues were $300,000. She said after closing the dental clinic these numbers dropped off and have taken a couple of years to return to baseline. She said the projections for this year's revenues are $425,000 to $450,000 with just one clinic in Hillsborough. Colleen Bridger said the other key point is the number of patients they serve. She said this number has increased by 912 patients from Fiscal Year 2009-2010 to Fiscal Year 2013-2014. She said this is a sixty one percent increase. She said this is a real testament to the Dental Clinic staff. Colleen Bridger said the amount of money received per patient is down, which means fewer patients have insurance and are paying on a sliding scale. Colleen Bridger said the question she gets a lot is what happened to those patients in the southern portion of the County. She said more patients from the southern portion of the County are being seen now than when there were two clinics. She added when the percentage of patients is considered, the percentage of patients from the southern portion of the County is lower than it was when there was a clinic there. Colleen Bridger said the bottom line is that the consolidation was good for their Dental Clinic and for determining how to deliver dental services efficiently and effectively. She said when the Southern Human Services Center is expanded in the near future; she would like to see another dental clinic in the facility. She said part of the consolidation involved going from a four operatory clinic in Chapel Hill to an eight operatory clinic in Hillsborough. She said they are ready to expand the number of staff in Hillsborough. She said there is a fairly long waiting list for non-emergency adult patients. She said the Health Department's Budget request includes an additional Dental Team. She said a good amount of the cost of the request is offset by additional revenues from billing for those services. She said dental services in Hillsborough should be expanded this year and there should be a plan for expansion in the next few years in the southern half of the County. Commissioner Rich asked if more people are visiting the Clinic because they cannot afford care elsewhere. Colleen Bridger said there are two types of other dental facilities: private providers and Piedmont Health Services. She said that the private dental offices are absolutely out of financial reach for the patients of the Dental Clinic. She said that Piedmont Health Services are more expensive than Orange County, but she does not think that this is part of the motivation but rather that they have limited operatory clinics and thus very long wait lists. Commissioner Burroughs asked if Piedmont is limited by space. Colleen Bridger said yes. She added if a clinic is built by the County at the Southern Human Services Center, perhaps Piedmont could staff and operate it. She said this idea would solve Piedmont's space issues and the community's access issues. Commissioner Jacobs asked if the Dental Clinic at the University of North Carolina (UNC) continues to exist. Colleen Bridger said yes, but the community is triaging patients that cannot be seen at the County Dental Clinic to be seen by the UNC Dental Clinic. She said the UNC clinic is not seen as a safety net dental provider but rather a safety net dental specialist. She said complicated cases are referred to the UNC Dental Clinic. Commissioner Jacobs recalled an award had been given and that congratulations were in order for Dr. Bridger and Stacy Shelp for publicizing some aspect of public health. Colleen Bridger said that Ms. Shelp created the wonderful annual report for the Health Department. She said the report was submitted to the North Carolina City and County Communicators (NC3C), and it was awarded first place. Commissioner Price arrived at 6:27 p.m.