(Chelsea Update would like to thank Laura Blodgett for the information in this story.)
Washtenaw County Public Health and Saint Joseph Mercy Health System recently opened the Washtenaw County Dental Clinic, located in the Saint Joseph Mercy Health System Haab Health Building in downtown Ypsilanti.
The new clinic will serve adults and children who are uninsured and low income, or who are enrolled in Medicaid, MIChild or Healthy Kids.
The clinic will begin seeing patients in February and new patients can call 877-313-6232 to schedule an appointment
“We are incredibly happy to see the Washtenaw County Dental Clinic become a reality,” says Ellen Rabinowitz, health officer for Washtenaw County Public Health in a press release. “Thousands of our local residents have done without needed dental care for far too long. We look forward to seeing vast improvements in the oral health of our most vulnerable residents, and we are indebted to our many community partners for their support and collaboration with this process.”
The Washtenaw County Dental Clinic is a program of Washtenaw County Public Health, made possible with the collaboration of Saint Joseph Mercy Health System, the Washtenaw Health Plan and Michigan Community Dental Clinics.
Saint Joseph Mercy Health System is providing space in its Haab Health Building rent-free. The Washtenaw Health Plan is contributing to the startup costs, and Washtenaw County Public Health is contracting with Michigan Community Dental Clinics to operate it.
More than 40,000 Washtenaw residents are without dental insurance. Those with Medicaid dental insurance (some 18,000) still have difficulty getting care because very few dentists accept it. With Medicaid expansion, over 10,000 additional Washtenaw residents now have Medicaid dental coverage – but remain largely unable to see a dentist.
At full capacity, the eleven-chair clinic will serve an estimated 6,000 patients per year with 15,000 clinic visits.
