Minutes 10-16-2018 - Laserfiche WebLink

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20 Commissioner Price asked if these staff will work 5 days on the mobile unit. Quintana Stewart said the mobile unit will do two days at the SHSC and 2 days in the community (e.g. schools). Commissioner Price asked if one dentist and hygienist are enough. Quintana Stewart said yes, as this will leave 1.5 full-time dentists in the Hillsborough site. Commissioner Price again asked if this is enough staff. Commissioner Price asked if more staff would be needed if a permanent dental clinic was built out at the Southern Human Services Center. Quintana Stewart said yes, and she said they will offer the mobile unit option twice a week at the SHSC, which will account for the 39% of people being seen in Hillsborough. She said the hope is that it will all balance out. Commissioner Price said she would assume that the need for extra staff would exist regardless of whether it is a mobile unit or bricks and mortar. She said going into the community may reach a larger portion of the population. Quintana Stewart said the mobile unit would not be at school for a full 8-hour work day, and there could still be time for the staff to come back to Hillsborough. Commissioner McKee said he liked the idea of the mobile van. He asked if the current operational capacity at Hillsborough is known. Dr. Day said it is at 100% with two full-time dentists, three dental hygienists, and a GPR resident that rotates in for 3 months. He said there is a fourth dentist on Wednesdays, and there are 9 operatories, with all 9 are being used. Commissioner McKee said he would hate to move staff to the mobile unit, and then in 6 months realize that additional staff has to be hired for Hillsborough. Dr. Day said in Durham he would go on the mobile unit to a school until the buses arrived for dismissal, at which time, he would return to the clinic and see patients for another 2.5 hours. He said the addition of the dental van would allow more children to be seen, and more income is made seeing children than adults. Commissioner McKee asked if there is any insight on how the County may compete with Piedmont. Dr. Day said that is why he thinks the mobile van is the better choice, as it would go in a completely different direction. He said children cannot make it to the dental clinic, but many of them need to be seen. He said Piedmont has a different model, and thus there would be little competition. Commissioner McKee referred to the comment that the mobile unit visiting the schools would take the “parents out of the equation”, and he asked if more clarification could be given regarding this comment. Dr. Day said in Durham a packet of information was given to the schools to distribute to the parents, and the parents could decide if they wanted their child to be seen. He said if a parent agrees, the staff would see the child, send a treatment plan home with the child, and the parent can then agree/disagree to the plan. He said this process allows for a parent to not miss work in order to take a child to the dentist, but keeps the parent involved in the treatment plan. Commissioner Jacobs said this is an interesting adaption and a good idea. He said the BOCC has previously debated the merits of two dental services sites versus one, and the decision was made to have it in Hillsborough because the BOCC made a specific commitment to bring back dental services to the southern part of the County at some point. He said it would be nice to have this information shared at the joint meeting with Carrboro next week, to show that the BOCC has stuck to its commitment to bring services back. Commissioner Jacobs said he understands why there is a lot of discussion about schools, but the elderly are in equal need of services. He said it would be wise for the Health Department to talk the Department on Aging to hopefully offer a better balance of services