The Times - Serving Waitsburg, Dayton and the Touchet Valley

DAYTON-In November 2015, Norm Passmore's dental practice closed in Dayton, and treatment options for Medicaid patients became slim. Realizing the importance of preventative dental care to whole-body health, the Columbia County Health System administrators got busy.

The result is the Columbia Family Dental clinic located on the Dayton General Hospital campus at 1012 South Third Street.

Since the grand opening on June 30, Audra Morgan DMD, Michael Strang DDS, Registered Dental Assistant Cherie Dean, and Dental Hygienist Randy Nemeth have provided their patients with quality care.

Dr. Morgan received a degree in Medical Dentistry from Oregon Health and Sciences University.

"The team here is very warm, welcoming, and caring," she said about the Columbia Family Clinic and her partners at work.

Dr. Strang has practiced dentistry in the local community since 1997. He is also familiar with and has treated patients with state-funded insurance.

Cherie Dean has nearly 20 years working in Dentistry. She worked at the Alder Dental clinic for Norm Passmore just before the business sold. She has been instrumental in setting the Columbia Family Dental Clinic up for business.

This team is not above a bit of humor.

When asked about his background as a Hygienist, Randy Nemeth joked, "I scrape teeth for a living."

Nemeth said he saw the ad for a Hygienist and thought the job sounded interesting, and so he applied. He lives in Lewiston but is at the ready on the three days the clinic is open.

CCHS CEO Shane McGuire pitched the case for the clinic to the state and the hospital district board of commissioners back in 2019:

Columbia County is a rural community with a population density of 4.7 people per square mile, 15 percent of whom live below the Federal Poverty Level. Adults living below 100 percent of the FPL are three times more likely to have untreated cavities, he said in his report.

Additionally, the American Dental Association reports an increase in costly emergency room visits for dental problems, particularly for the state's Medicaid population, especially in areas where Community Health Centers or Federally Qualified Health Centers do not exist.

McGuire said dentists in private practice find it challenging to provide care to state-funded beneficiaries because low reimbursement rates don't cover their costs. He went on to say that rural health clinics can provide dental care and receive reimbursement rates that are not based on costs, volume, or fees for services.

"This is not a profit-oriented service," McGuire told the hospital district board of commissioners in Jan. 2020. "Reimbursement is meant to cover the costs of delivering care and will require an annual cost report process similar to what we do in the clinics, now, as well as at Booker Rest Home and the hospital, as Critical Access Hospital."

The overarching goal for adding this new treatment modality to the menu at CCHS is to move dental care into the already integrated clinic model, where behavioral health specialists work alongside primary care physicians to treat their patients.

Construction on the $428,868.50, 1200 sq. ft. clinic began in January 2021. Most of the funding was secured from the Washington State Legislature with the help of state Rep. Skyler Rude. Additional funds came from a grant through the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) which is affiliated with the U.S. Dept. of Health and Human Services. That grant had stipulations on use but covered some of the start-up and labor costs and some of the cost of the dental equipment. The remainder came from hospital operations.

Residents of Dayton, Waitsburg, and Garfield and Walla Walla counties with state-funded insurance are welcome at the clinic by scheduling an appointment by phone at (509) 382-3200.

Hours of operation are Tuesdays and Thursdays from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Wednesdays from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.