Chester dental expands as medical services move

By Cynthia Prairie
©2018 Telegraph Publishing LLC

Springfield Medical Care Systems will expand its dental services at the Ellsworth Building at 55 Route 11 in Chester, adding dental staff and taking over space now occupied by the Chester Health Center.

SMCS will be bringing on a second dentist, by July 1, plus two dental hygienists and more chairs for patients.

Following a rehab to accommodate the expanded dental services, “everything will be up and running” by fall, Joshua Dufrense, chief of Practice Operations for the medical system, said in an interview on Thursday.

The medical care providers — Dr. Robert Schwartz, Dr. Gerald Drabyn, and the two behavioral health specialists — will move to other SMCS facilities. In a press release issued on Friday, SMCS added that “all staff will be relocated for continued employment.”

• Effective June 1, Dr. Robert Schwartz and Jean White, LICSW, will be seeing patients at Rockingham Health Center, at 1 Hospital Court in Bellows Falls.
• Dr. Gerald Drabyn has already relocated to Springfield Health Center at 100 River St.
• Heidi Lowe, LICSW, will split her time among Mountain Valley Health Center at 38 Route 11 in Londonderry, Springfield Health Center at 100 River St. and Ludlow Health at 1 Elm St.

All the services at Chester Health Center and Chester Dental Center are under SMCS.

During the interview, Dufrense said the move was prompted by a 2016 needs assessment based on a survey in which 758 residents within SMCS’s area of service participated.

It found that dental care was an overwhelming need. Of the 350 who answered the question In the last year, I or someone I know, was NOT able to get the following care when needed, 60 percent chose dental care. Following that in the 35 percent to 33 percent range were medical care, mental health care and addiction treatment.

Less than 20 percent of Chester residents use the Chester Health Center for their routine medical needs but instead go to other SMCS facilities such as Springfield Health Center, Mountain Valley and the Rockingham facility.

Adding to the decision was the fact that less than 20 percent of Chester residents use the Chester Health Center for their routine medical needs but instead go to other SMCS facilities such as Springfield Health Center, Mountain Valley and the Rockingham facility.

“We had never really had the clients to support” the Chester clinic, Dufresne said.

He emphasized that helping low income patients, including those with Medicaid coverage, is an important mission of SMCS. “The dental need is an unmet need,” he said.

Hospital spokeswoman Anna Smith said, “We really expect that it (the expanded Chester Family Dental) will be a regional hub and that it will bring people to Chester.” She added that Chester residents who go to Rockingham will also find a full complement of care including internal medicine, pediatrics, minor skin surgeries, obstetrics & gynecology and women’s health services among others.

While Dufrense acknowledged that the change could be difficult for some, both he and Smith urged clients to use SMCS’s Health Transit transportation assistance to get to health centers and wellness programs. For more information, call Julie Merrill-Snide 802-885-7604.

What appears to be an emphasis on oral health, Dufrense indicated, is really just re-integrating care that has been fragmented into medical, mental and dental.

The medical system has also undertaken a two-year program to send a dental hygienist into area schools to provide dental services. A grant from the Fanny Holt Ames and Edna Louise Holt Fund, has enabled an SMCS hygenist to visit Cavendish Town, Chester-Andover, Flood Brook in Londonderry, Grafton and Townshend elementary schools.