[R]ANDOLPH – In 1994, Dr. Rebecca Foulk helped launch a school-based medical clinic in South Royalton to reach kids who didn’t have access to basic care.
The program — operating under the name HealthHUB — now serves as a school-based clinic for 11 towns. And it’s about to expand again, as HealthHUB and Gifford Health Care are teaming to bring a mobile dental-hygiene service to Randolph later this month.
It’s HealthHUB’s first foray into a non-school setting, but Foulk said it “still fits with our mission.”
“This program really is about just trying to get services to those in need,” she said.
HealthHUB grew initially from concerns about teen pregnancy rates, Foulk said. But a subsequent needs assessment also showed that many students in the area didn’t have access to primary care, dental care and mental health services.
HealthHUB now offers those services at schools throughout central Vermont. The program serves Bethel, Chelsea, Orange, Rochester, Sharon, South Royalton, Stockbridge, Strafford, Tunbridge, Williamstown and Washington.
Appointments are billed to students’ health insurance.
Grant funding from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation initially got the school-based clinic concept off the ground. Today, “between grant-writing and fund-raising and billing, we’re able to keep going,” said Foulk, a South Royalton-based pediatrician who serves as HealthHUB’s medical director.
“It’s just gradually expanded as time’s gone on,” Foulk said.
Last year, HealthHUB began offering dental services to adults as well as students at school locations. Also, new school sites are in the works for Rochester and Randolph.
And the organization now will be taking its dental-hygiene trailer to a parking lot at Gifford Medical Center in Randolph via a partnership with the hospital.
The dental service’s first availability on the hospital property comes during school vacation week — from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. April 16 through April 20. Another visit is expected this summer.
Gifford administrators noted that their latest Community Health Care Needs Assessment shows that basic dental services like cleanings, fillings and X-rays are lacking in the area.
“It’s what our mission is,” said Dan Bennett, Gifford’s president and chief executive officer. “We are here to support our community, and this is something that is necessary in our community.”
Hospital spokesperson Ashley Lincoln compared HealthHUB’s expansion of dental services to Gifford operating health clinics in outlying towns.
“It makes sense, because transportation is a barrier,” Lincoln said. “And I give huge accolades to Dr. Foulk for saying, ‘How do we get dental services to our most vulnerable,’ which are our kids.”
The dental trailer offers services like cleanings, sealants, fluoride and diagnostics. But administrators say it’s not a substitute for regular trips to a dentist, and HealthHUB’s hygienist works to connect clinic patients with a full-service dental practice when possible.
Given the obstacles faced by uninsured or underinsured patients, “there are still some challenges in finding dentists willing to do restorative work,” Foulk said.
But she also emphasized the importance of preventative dental services, especially in younger people who then might adopt healthier habits. Foulk said the HealthHUB clinics are reaching some patients who would not otherwise receive any dental care.
“It just has really made a huge difference,” she said.
