Dental clinic close to opening in Danville

By Denice Thibodeau
Published: December 31, 2009

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A new dental clinic will soon open in Danville — staff training begins Monday.

Piedmont Access to Health Services Inc. has announced the preliminary opening of its Commu-nity Dental Clinic in Foundation Hall at Danville Community College.

A date for seeing patients hasn’t been set yet as more details need to be ironed out, but follow-up announcements will be made as the long-awaited project progresses, said PATHS CEO Kay Crane.

Ever since PATHS started in 2001, the agency saw a great need for dental care. The agency gets calls every day from patients who need access to oral health care, Crane said.

The dental clinic will be made possible through $385,000 of funding from the Danville Regional Foundation and a partnership with DCC.

“This is a true opportunity for the residents of the Dan River Region to pull together to help oth-ers get the quality oral health care that is so desperately needed in this community,” she said via release.

President and CEO Karl Stauber of Danville Regional Foundation said via a news release that the joint venture would help underserved patients through the region.

Local dentists and members of the Danville Regional Dental Society have also provided advice and other support for the project.

The clinic will not operate as a free clinic, but will accept all kinds of insurance, including Medi-caid. For those without insurance, a payment plan can be arranged and sliding scale fees will be available to those who qualify.

The facility will operate much like any other private dental clinic, yet also with a philosophical mission that everyone should have access to health care.

Once open, clinic hours will be from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday-Friday. PATHS has developed a waiting list, and those on the list will be provided the first opportunities for an appointment.

For more information or to be added to the list, call PATHS administrative offices at (434) 791-3630.