1606-12290

Ohio: Ohio Hills Health Services (OHHS) has been in operation since 1976, a Federally Qualified Health Center (FQHC) with four locations and one dental center that services six counties in OH. The area served is located in eastern Ohio, in the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains. This region experiences persistent unemployment, which contributes to continuously high rates of poverty. As for access to a dentist who will accept Medicaid or uninsured patients, many area residents in this area must drive nearly a 40-50 mile to seek dental care. Poverty rates (persons under 200% poverty) for OHHS service area average of 60.4%. OHHS participated as a Safety Net Solutions technical assistance site as part of the Strengthening the Oral Health Safety Net initiative in 2015. Since receiving TA from Safety Net Solutions, OHHS have successfully implemented practice enhancement strategies and has begun to see improvements in oral health program and the dental clinic finances. Requesting Community Response Fund support in the amount of $35,000 for replacing unreliable x-ray equipment to a more reliable, state of the art and safer model for OHHS patients. A full breakdown of the equipment to be purchased and price breakdown for each can be found in the proposal.