Patients in Central Illinois will have improved access to oral surgery through a planned renovation and expansion of services at OSF HealthCare’s dental clinic at the Saint Francis Medical Center campus in Peoria.
U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin visited the Forest Park clinic site Tuesday, touring the area that will be updated into a dental sedation clinic. The clinic’s conversion comes through a $2 million grant in congressionally directed spending.
“If you’ve ever experienced the pain of a toothache, you know that oral health care is not a luxury, it is essential. That’s why the work done at OSF HealthCare is so important,” Durbin said in a media release.
“This new outpatient dental clinic will serve Central Illinois, focusing on providing care to underserved children and adults who have difficulty accessing dental care — many of whom are uninsured or rely on Medicaid.”
According to OSF, one in five Tri-County residents is unable to access dental care when needed, and while 20% of Peoria County residents are enrolled in Medicaid, most dentists do not accept Medicaid.
“Access to dental care is an important part of overall health, and we know there are children and adults in our community who face barriers to getting the care they need,” said Amanda Sutphen, director of community outreach at OSF Saint Francis.
“This expansion will allow us to increase our capacity, provide more timely care and continue meeting the growing need for accessible dental services.”
The Forest Park clinic is one of two OSF dental facilities in Peoria, with the other on Sheridan Road. The updates at Forest Park will add procedure rooms designed for oral, maxillofacial and other dental procedures that require sedation or anesthesia. The added capacity aims to reduce current wait times for procedures.
“Currently, a child or an adult would have to wait nine months or longer for a procedure that requires sedation,” said OSF Saint Francis president Mike Wells. “With this appropriation and the expansion that we will be implementing that will be reduced to one week, maybe less.”
