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Pacific Hospital PDA Announces:
Grant Renewal for Dental Case Management
SEATTLE, April 11, 2013 -- Today the Pacific Hospital Preservation & Development Authority (Pacific Hospital PDA) announced a grant for $128,000 awarded to Project Access Northwest to provide case management services for low-income, uninsured dental patients from May 2013 through June 2014. More than 400 patients are projected to be served per quarter.
Pacific Hospital PDA is the only funder for dental case management in King County. Low-income, uninsured patients are referred from safety net clinic dental providers to Swedish Community Specialty Clinic (SCSC) for complex dental extractions. Project Access Northwest case managers arrange for the appointments at SCSC, make reminder calls and arrange for interpreters.
"Case management is an efficient and effective way to get patients scheduled for treatment," said Rosemary Aragon, Pacific Hospital PDA executive director. "With the SCSC adding a fourth treatment day in the spring and a fifth day by mid year, we have a great opportunity to help uninsured adults get the extractions they need."
Dental care for uninsured adults has always been a challenge, but the problem has become worse in the past two years. In January 2011, 450,000 adults lost Medicaid coverage for dental care due to cuts enacted by the Washington State Legislature. When adults do not receive regular dental care, routine problems like cavities deteriorate into severe infections and lost teeth. Uninsured adults with dental pain often end up in our local emergency departments. According to the Washington Dental Service Foundation, over an 18-month period, 54,000 emergency department dental visits cost more than $36 million in charges.
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About Pacific Hospital PDA
 The Pacific Hospital Preservation & Development Authority partners with community organizations to improve access to health care services in Seattle/King County. In 1981, the City of Seattle chartered the Pacific Hospital PDA, placing in its trust the Pacific Hospital and surrounding campus, a historic Seattle landmark. The Pacific Hospital PDA leases the property. The lease revenues are used to increase access to health resources and to improve health outcomes in King County. |
