DARLINGTON - The Darlington Community Health Center will shut down later this month because of a shortage of available dentists.
The Health Center, which opened in 2009, employed two practicing dentists last November, said Lynn Vollbrecht, business development and marketing manager at Community Health Systems Inc., the health care provider that operates the Health Center.
However, one of the dentists left the center late last year, while the other departed last month, leaving the center with no dentists, Vollbrecht said.
"It's too bad it had to come to this, but we haven't been able to find anyone to fill the positions here," Vollbrecht said.
Vollbrecht estimated that the Health Center treats some 2,000 patients in the area, generally lower income people.
"We've reached out to our patients and let them know about what's happening," Vollbrecht said. "We also contacted other clinics in the area and let them know we would be referring patients to them."
The remaining staff at the center are working with Community Health Services to transfer to new positions within the organization or with other employers, Vollbrecht said.
According to data from the Health Resources and Services Administration, 124 locations in Wisconsin are designated Health Care Professional Shortage Areas for dental care. Most of these areas are concentrated in rural areas in the northern part of the state and along the west side of the state.
The data indicates that only 16 states in the country have more dental Health Care Professional Shortage Areas than Wisconsin. Furthermore, the available dentists in Wisconsin are estimated to be meeting only 42 percent of the total need of the state's population.
There would need to be 134 more dentists, if appropriately distributed, to remove all shortage areas in the state.
Dental Health Care Professional Shortage Areas are designated where the ratio of the population to practicing dentists exceeds 5,000 to 1. According to the latest data, Darlington is not currently a designated shortage area and has access to five additional dental care providers.
"We are still actively recruiting for a dentist, though," Vollbrecht said. "Given that we've been searching for months and found nobody, I think it's a bit unlikely that we'll find someone, and we don't want to get people's hopes up, but there might still be some sort of 24th-hour miracle."
The Health Center, which opened in 2009, employed two practicing dentists last November, said Lynn Vollbrecht, business development and marketing manager at Community Health Systems Inc., the health care provider that operates the Health Center.
However, one of the dentists left the center late last year, while the other departed last month, leaving the center with no dentists, Vollbrecht said.
"It's too bad it had to come to this, but we haven't been able to find anyone to fill the positions here," Vollbrecht said.
Vollbrecht estimated that the Health Center treats some 2,000 patients in the area, generally lower income people.
"We've reached out to our patients and let them know about what's happening," Vollbrecht said. "We also contacted other clinics in the area and let them know we would be referring patients to them."
The remaining staff at the center are working with Community Health Services to transfer to new positions within the organization or with other employers, Vollbrecht said.
According to data from the Health Resources and Services Administration, 124 locations in Wisconsin are designated Health Care Professional Shortage Areas for dental care. Most of these areas are concentrated in rural areas in the northern part of the state and along the west side of the state.
The data indicates that only 16 states in the country have more dental Health Care Professional Shortage Areas than Wisconsin. Furthermore, the available dentists in Wisconsin are estimated to be meeting only 42 percent of the total need of the state's population.
There would need to be 134 more dentists, if appropriately distributed, to remove all shortage areas in the state.
Dental Health Care Professional Shortage Areas are designated where the ratio of the population to practicing dentists exceeds 5,000 to 1. According to the latest data, Darlington is not currently a designated shortage area and has access to five additional dental care providers.
"We are still actively recruiting for a dentist, though," Vollbrecht said. "Given that we've been searching for months and found nobody, I think it's a bit unlikely that we'll find someone, and we don't want to get people's hopes up, but there might still be some sort of 24th-hour miracle."