Committee hopes to open community dental clinic
The Vernon Community Dental Access Committee hopes to open a new Dental Access Clinic in the near future.
Committee members have been working hard to find a suitable location for a new clinic, after the previous clinic was closed in April last year. The Vernon Dental Access Clinic had been helping patients who were struggling to afford dental care, as well as providing emergency dental assessments. The clinic had to close last year because funding was cut and there was more demand than the team
of volunteers and dentists could cope with.
Since the closure, members of the committee have received numerous calls from people asking for help; unfortunately, they have had to confess that there is no longer anything they can do for them and the patients have gone without the treatment they need.
Board members have spent the last twelve months looking for new sites, where they can open a new Dental Access Clinic and are now asking for help from local people with carpentry, plumbing and building skills; local community help will enable the refurbishment to be completed quickly and without mounting costs and will also show community spirit, which may enhance the bid for funding.
It is hoped that the new centre will start to take shape in the autumn; the clinic will target low income families, children without insurance and the elderly and will provide a valuable service in the community. The cost of dental treatment will depend on the income of the patient; the sliding scale will enable those on low incomes to access affordable care.
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