Wayne County, N.Y., is planning to restore dental services by reopening a dental clinic that could provide care to thousands of patients, according to an Oct. 25 report from FingerLakes1.com.
Livingston County declared dental equipment surplus and made it available to Wayne County Public Health, including five dental chairs and two X-ray units.
The county also developed positions for a dentist, dental hygienist, dental assistant and health office manager to staff the opened clinic.
According to officials, preliminary startup costs could reach $400,000. The county’s previous dental clinic still has some of the infrastructure required to operate a dental practice, which could limit costs.
The proposed clinic would be open to the general public, with an emphasis on providing care to children, Medicaid recipients and other underserved residents.
Just one of the county’s 16 dentists accepted Medicaid patients as of June 4, and that provider was not accepting new patients. There is not a set opening date for the new clinic, the report said.
