Grant Helps Southwest Missouri Dental Clinic Return Smiles

Dr. Tarasha Pearson, DDS, has a lot of energy and love for her work with the Ozark Tri-County Healthcare Consortium’s (OTCHC) dental clinic in Anderson. Her smile is warm, friendly and so contagious that it makes everyone around her smile. Well, almost everyone.

Jovani Valdez-Lagunas, a young boy from Southwest City, wasn’t entirely pleased during his recent stint in the dental chair. But at least Pearson, who is bilingual, could comfort him in Spanish as she worked on his teeth. MFH’s grant to OTCHC enabled the organization to expand its dental services, especially for the region’s growing uninsured/underinsured Hispanic population. The $446,615 grant supports more than 20 percent of the expansion project’s total cost of $2 million, and comes through the Foundation’s Primary Care Access Initiative.

“The grant has helped us overcome many barriers,” Pearson said. “And it has given us resources to recruit dentists to this area”, which like much of Missouri has a severe shortage of dental professionals.

With the grant, OTCHC doubled its number of dentists from two to four, and also hired a bilingual assistant and hygienist in the Joplin office, improving the ability to communicate effectively with Hispanic patients. MFH also funded the creation of bilingual information booklets on oral health for its clientele. Between the two offices, OTCHC now treats an average of 40 patients each day. Along with focusing on the underserved and underinsured Hispanic population, the expanded clinics are also the only places in Jasper and McDonald counties offering a sliding scale fee structure for dental services.

In addition to expanding services, OTCHC also has tapped into other Foundation resources. In 2006, OTCHC received a Basic Support grant to help offset operational expenses of its program serving individuals with diabetes, as well as a Strategic Organizational Development grant to improve its staff training and development efforts. Together, the three grants are helping OTCHC make both internal improvements and provide additional health services to underserved Missourians at the same time.

But it’s in the service delivery that OTCHC sees immediate rewards. Pearson and her co-workers’ compassion and personal touch means that even six-year-old Alexandra Harter from Neosho can muster a smile after having two cavities filled. “I love the fact that I can help people get rid of the pain,” Pearson said. “I love giving people their smile back.”

Ozark Tri-County Health Care
4301 Doniphan Drive
Neosho, MO 64850
417.451.9450
www.otchc.org