Stimulus funds go to Healthy Smiles

By John McVey / Journal staff writer

MARTINSBURG - Shenandoah Valley Medical Systems Inc. has received more than $1.5 million through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act for several projects, including the Healthy Smiles Community Oral Health Center.

Of that amount, about $1.2 million is for capital improvements and about $157,000 of that amount will go toward finishing building the dental clinic and equipping it, SVMS Executive Director David Fant said in a telephone interview Tuesday.

The grant is coming through funds in the stimulus package for community health centers.

SVMS operates Shenandoah Community Health, which offers services at several locations throughout the region. The amount of the grant was based on the community health center's number of patients.

Shenandoah Community Health will operate the dental clinic. SVMS and other community organizations have been working on establishing a community dental clinic locally for about two years.

"We're really excited about the community support for the clinic," Fant said. "This is a tremendous opportunity to reduce (dental care) costs."

The clinic will be located at the corner of U.S. 11 and Warm Springs Avenue in Martinsburg. Allen Henry is constructing the clinic at cost and he will lease the 2,500-square-foot building to Healthy Smiles of the Eastern Panhandle.

The nonprofit Healthy Smiles of the Eastern Panhandle Inc.was formed in 2008 to increase access to dental care for all residents of the tri-county. Dr. Dean Russell is president of the Healthy Smiles board of directors.

The clinic is on track to open no later than January, said Jan Callen, executive director of United Way of the Eastern Panhandle, which has been involved in establishing a dental clinic here.

The buildout should be complete by Sept. 1, he said in a telephone interview Tuesday, and hiring should begin by the end of September.

"We'll have four of seven (dentists' rooms) when we open," Callen said. "We'll have one dentist, one hygienist, one dental assistant and office staff when we open."

A capital campaign is under way to raise $300,000 over three years to complete the three additional rooms and hire another dentist and support staff, he said. Mary Clare Eros is chairing the capital campaign.

Also, part of the money raised through the capital campaign will go into a fund to help pay for uninsured patients, he said.

Others contributing to establishing the clinic are Quad/Graphics and Mikki Van Wyk.

In addition to the funds for the dental clinic, Fant said portions of the grants will be used to relocate a small office in Winchester, expand the parking lot at SVMS' Martinsburg location on Tavern Road and erect a security fence along the railroad tracks there.

Some of the funds will be used to improve SVMS' diagnostic laboratory, which will lower the costs, and install radiology equipment that can interface with equipment at City Hospital, he said.

Twenty-nine community health centers in West Virginia are sharing in about $26.6 million provided by the stimulus package funds.