For the past 19 years, Children’s Dental Health Services (CDHS) has provided quality dental care to more than 4,000 children in southern Minnesota through its campus-based, mobile clinics and fixed locations.
Now, the nonprofit is taking a major step toward expanding its services with the opening of a new fixed clinic in Rochester.
The new clinic, located in the former United Way building, will increase the number of dental chairs from three to six. With this expansion, CDHS plans to serve an additional 1,000 children per year who are uninsured or rely on Medicaid.
“There is a growing shortage of health care providers across the country, and especially in Minnesota, and children who rely on Medicaid are particularly vulnerable,” said Sarah Hayes Anderson, executive director of CDHS.
“Our goal is to expand access so more children can get the dental care they need. That’s at the heart of our mission.”
And this is just the beginning. There are still six rooms in the new clinic that have not yet been put into use. CDHS hopes to activate these spaces in the future to further increase service capacity and reach more children in need.