Healthy Connections
Volume 2/Issue 1
Spring 2004

Sneak Preview of the New Health Center

By now many of you have heard about plans to construct a new home for the health center. After nine years of assessing community needs, finding a location, seeking funds for construction, drawing up plans with architects and presenting them to the community, the new facility is about to become a reality – groundbreaking is planned for this spring. In the coming months, there will be much more to tell about the project and about how you can become involved in supporting it, but we thought it was time to let people know what is coming and how it will benefit everyone from staff to patients to the surrounding community.

The new health center will be located on Washington Street across Adams Park from its current location in the Roslindale Municipal Building . Plans call for renovating the now-vacant United Commercial and Food Workers Union building and constructing a new, adjoining building on the parking lot site of the old Rialto Theater.

With three times the current space, the Center will be able to double the number of patients it serves. Patients will get better service, too – they will not have to wait as long to get an appointment, nor will they have to spend as much time in the waiting room. Urgent care services will be available to patients and they will be able to see a broader range of specialists on site. There will be extended hours and easier access to parking.

All of these factors will help to enhance the experience patients have of the health center. Barbara Lottero, the Center’s Executive Director, puts it this way, “In spite of our crowded conditions, I’ve never worried that we were compromising the quality of care we provide. But the overall quality of service is a different matter. The inadequacy and inefficiency of our current space puts pressure on patients and staff. It also limits what we can do for the community.”

Among the things she is most excited about, says Lottero, is the new patient education room. “Patient education is a really important part of what we do as a community health center, she says, “but we haven’t done nearly as much as we’d like because we haven’t had any place to do it.” Among the classes planned for the new facility are prenatal classes. In addition to the patient education room, there will be a conference room that will be available for use by community groups. From her point of view, “We are an important part of this community and I think everything about the new facility will benefit the community as well as our patients.”

What’s In a Name? The “Dental” in Greater Roslindale Medical and Dental Center

Most people probably give little thought to the fact that the name of the health center is the Greater Roslindale Medical and Dental Center. But in this case it is true, as the saying goes, that there can be much in a name.

The health center has never been passive regarding the importance of dental care. In the 1980’s, the Center used Community Development Block Grant funds to provide dental screening and education in 15 area elementary schools. When the funds went away, the program had to be abandoned, but the cause was not – in 1996, with no outside funding, a dental program was launched at the Charles Sumner Elementary School , located a few blocks from the Center. With written permission from their parents, 150 students, or 26% of the predominantly minority student population, participate each year. Participants receive full dental care at the Center and the services are billed to Medicaid, free care or private insurance.

In the 1990’s, when Faulkner Hospital, with whom they were affiliated, was facing financial pressure and looked to reduce its work force by eliminating the Center’s dental program, the board refused to accept the cutback. Instead, they sought another affiliation that would safeguard dental care as a vital part of primary health care. The result was the 1998 affiliation with Boston Medical Center . It was for good reason that they fought to maintain the program – the Center is the only publicly supported dental care facility in the community, with 45% of patients insured by Medicaid and 30% receiving free care. In fact, within the service area, there are no other dental practices that accept uninsured patients.

Dental care is not always seen as a priority when it comes to health care. But Jane Ogembo DDS, the Center’s Dental Services Director, offers a compelling first-hand account of the importance of access to dental care. When Dr. Ogembo came to the United States from Kenya to attend college, she had never been to a dentist and her teeth were poorly aligned. At the age of 19 she went to an orthodontist, who not only straightened her teeth, but also took an interest in her future. Knowing she was a biology major, he advised her to attend a summer enrichment program for the health professions at the Medical College of Georgia. Based on her exposure to the profession that summer and her personal experience with the benefits of good dental care, Dr. Ogembo went on to earn a DDS from NYU.

Dr. Ogembo came to the Center in 1996 to practice general dentistry. She completed her Master’s Degree in Public Health at Boston University in 2002 and is currently pursuing further studies in dental public health. She is committed to working in a community-based setting. “Most patients have not had good dental care prior to coming to the Center,” she says, and goes on to describe some of the problems she sees. Infections in teeth can lead to abscesses that are not only painful – when left untreated they can lead to serious health problems if the infection is carried into the bloodstream. For pregnant women, this type of infection can lead to premature childbirth.

She also emphasizes that the social consequences of inadequate dental care should not be downplayed or dismissed. Welfare mothers who are trying to return to work can suffer both real and psychological impediments to success in securing a job. “How,” she asks, “can you expect someone to feel confident going to a job interview with bad teeth or no teeth at all?”

Mary Rourke, the health center’s dental hygienist for the past 24 years, concurs. She says that for the majority of patients she has seen over the years, both children and adults, very poor oral hygiene and lack of adequate dental care have led to serious dental problems. She refers to the Center’s growing Albanian population as an example, many of whom have never seen a dentist—it is not uncommon to see children whose teeth are already rotted to the gum line. In their quest not only for health but for a productive place within the community, many of these patients express gratitude for this first opportunity to access dental care.

Dr. Mina Paul, staff dentist, spent eight years at the Center before leaving to earn her Master of Public Health. After seven years, she returned to specialize in geriatric dentistry. “I love public health,” she says, “because it focuses on patients who otherwise might not have access to care. Patients in nursing homes, for example, often have no dental insurance, so this aspect of their care can suffer neglect. I feel fortunate to be here where I get to see patients who really need our services.”

Nearly 70% of the dental patients are under the age of 21, in no small part because Medicaid covers dental services up to age 17. Dr. Paul says that it is never too early to begin educating children and parents about oral hygiene. She and Dr. Ogembo agree that age three is a good time for a first visit to the dentist. It is an opportunity to get the child into the chair, to allay the fears of both the child and the parent and to begin the process of dental education.

Mary Rourke, who also has her M.Ed., has been involved with dental outreach to schools since the 1980’s. She is adamant that untreated dental problems in childhood can affect the quality of life for years to come, and that early screening and education are the most successful preventive measures. “It’s well documented,” she says, “that oral disease can affect a child’s development as well as their nutritional status, school performance and self-esteem.” In addition to working in the Sumner School Dental Program, she spends one day a week teaching dental health education at ten area elementary schools through Boston University ’s Goldman School of Dentistry.

By providing dental care to nearly two thousand patients each year, most of whom would not otherwise have access; by offering working families the convenience of dental services right in their community; and through their commitment to serving the community with dental outreach and education, the Center could not do better at living up to its name.

Board member interview
Shirley Shillingford

Ever since the Greater Roslindale Health Organization, Inc. was formed in 1975 to bring a health center to the local community, the Board of Directors has kept it on course with its mission to provide accessible and affordable quality primary care services. Over the years the board has faced a broad range of challenges – the last decade alone has seen consolidation in health care, diminished reimbursement rates and marked shifts in demographics.

With complicated issues requiring knowledge and understanding of the health care system, it is fortunate that the GRHO by-laws call for the inclusion of board members who are providers of health care services in the community. For the past year, one of these provider seats has been filled by Shirley Shillingford of the Boston Public Health Commission’s Healthy Baby/Healthy Child initiative, which works to reduce infant mortality in Boston through a program of prenatal care and support for at-risk infants.

Shirley was born in Jamaica , and came to Boston by way of Montreal so her husband could attend Northeastern University . Once here, she entered a lottery for jobs at City Hall and before she knew it found herself working in the office of former Mayor Kevin White, launching a 30-year career in city government.

In 1973, responding to the influx of Caribbeans into the Boston area, Shirley pulled together a group of sponsors and, with the support of the former mayor, put on the first Boston Caribbean Carnival. Thirty years later, with continuing support from Mayor Menino, she is still involved, serving as its President for most of the 90’s and right up to the present.

With a twinkle in her eye, Shirley says of herself, “I am a professional beggar,” and laughs. This is, indeed, the essence of her job description for Healthy Baby/Healthy Child. If the program needs something, she gets it – whether it’s layette bags for new moms, items for the food pantry, even chickens for holiday meals. She puts her many years in city government to good use, “When you have connections, you take them with you wherever you go.” Then, referring to the Caribbean Carnival, she adds, “I have resources because of what I do in the community.”

Clearly, Shirley’s warm and colorful personality, the value she places on human connections and her confidence in the causes she takes up all contribute to her success. Her philosophy can be summed up in a simple statement, “If you put some joy into what you are doing, you can do something to enhance life for other people, especially those who have less than you do.” When she speaks about her family, Shirley clearly sees herself as fortunate. Her daughter Ventrice, 30, is in medical school and Tamara, 25, will complete her Master’s in Social Work this spring.

Shirley brings many assets to the GRHO board – experience with health and social service programs serving infants through the elderly, knowledge of the Caribbean community (she is also Vice President of the Caribbean American Political Action Committee), and both a long history and strong spirit of community activism.

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Summer 2003