N. Calif. healthcare district funds dental center

The Peninsula Health Care District (PHCD) Board of Directors has approved $2 million in funding to launch an Apple Tree Center for Dental Health in San Mateo, CA, to provide care for underserved populations.

The Apple Tree model removes barriers to access and will provide basic oral hygiene and dental services to underserved populations in San Mateo County, according to the PHCD.

The model uses mobile outreach units and teledentistry to reach the institutionalized frail, elderly, and disabled. The Peninsula Health Care District will lease its building to Apple Tree Dental for 10 years, assist with tenant improvements and equipment, and provide operating capital for the launch. The center is expected to open in the summer of 2014.

Key components of the center will include the following:

• A dental clinic with nine operatories, including a conscious sedation room
• A community care coordination center that will manage all offsite care delivery
• A multisite truck with three mobile offices for offsite visits and care

The center will serve as the hub for both general and advanced dentistry services. Center staff will manage the onsite delivery of dental care at "spoke" sites, including nursing facilities, assisted-living facilities, group homes. and schools.

An eldercare dental needs assessment found that San Mateo County could support a sustainable dental care program to meet growing geriatric and special care dentistry needs. The assessment and subsequent business plan indicates that within five years, approximately 8,500 individual patients will receive dental care annually, representing 30,000 dental visits per year.

San Mateo County released a report noting that access to dental care is among the lowest types of access to healthcare service.

Created by state legislation and launched by local voter approval in 1947, the Peninsula Health Care District serves the communities of San Bruno, Millbrae, Burlingame, Hillsborough, San Mateo, and Foster City by responding to local priorities and allocating resources to programs and services that address these needs.