Shawnee Health Service awarded $300,000 to expand access to oral health care
Shawnee Health Service received a $300,000 award from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ (HHS), Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) to “expand oral health service capacity through new infrastructure enhancements.”
Shawnee Health Service plans to add two dental operatories to its Shawnee Health Care, Murphysboro and Marion Wellness School Health Center locations. Shawnee will use remaining funds for equipment upgrades.
The expansion will help Shawnee Health Service continue to provide needed dental services to poor and underserved residents of Jackson and Williamson Counties. In 2018, Shawnee Health Service provided care to over 15,000 patients with Medicaid, over 4,000 patients with Medicare, and almost 3,000 patients who had no insurance.
Shawnee Health Care, Dental is one of few dental providers in southern Illinois which accepts Medicaid and has a sliding fee scale for patients without insurance.
HRSA-funded health centers, like Shawnee Health Service, provide affordable, accessible, quality, and cost-effective primary health care services to their patients. According to Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Alex Azar, health centers consistently deliver “high-quality primary care at a significantly lower cost than their peers and above-average results in controlling chronic conditions.”
Since its inception in 1971, Shawnee Health Service has worked to improve the health and welfare of southern Illinois residents through the promotion, development and administration of quality, comprehensive health and social services. Shawnee Health Service believes that quality health care is a right, and continuously strives to ensure that patients receive the highest quality health care without regard to age, race, religion, sex, financial status, or where they live.