Dental clinic coming to Catawba reservation
ROCK HILL, S.C. - As the cracking sounds of the pneumatic nailers stopped, the roof of the Catawba Health Clinic;s latest addition was finished. All that remains for the new dental clinic is finishing the inside.
Capt. Diane Carnes of the IHS's Catawba Service Unit hopes the new clinic on the Catawba Indian Reservation will be opened and in full operation within months.
''That's kind of our goal. We're hoping that everything falls together,'' she said.
The addition will provide rooms for an office, port stations and other equipment. Carnes said a dentist, assistant, dental hygienist, and clerical worker will be staffed at the clinic.
''It's a three-chair operation. We'll have one room we call the cry room, for someone that needs to be in a quiet place,'' she said. Preparations are also being made for a sterilization room and a work room.
Currently, Catawbas and Native members of the area's federal tribes go to the Cherokee Reservation in Cherokee, N.C., for federal dental services - a three-hour drive. There, dentures are provided only for Cherokee members.
''Depending on the dentist we get and the level that they can provide care, we hope to provide a maximum level as possible,'' Carnes said. A dentist will be hired first and then assist in hiring the staff.
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''We won't do braces and things like that; those are specialty things,'' she continued. ''The care that you would get at a private dentist is what we will be able to provide.''
She explained that pre-denture work may be provided, but dentures will have to come from a separate lab. ''What we would do is make the mold, and then we would have to contract with a lab,'' she said. ''My intent is to find a lab to work out a deal with that would do the dentures for the best price, and still be a good quality denture.''
She said payment for dental and denture work would be the same as the medical clinic now. ''Anybody that is an enrolled member of any federally recognized tribe can get services with us on-site.''
Dentures for tribes other than Catawba would be paid because it would be considered a contract health program - the same as the medical center. Payment can be made through Medicaid, Medicare or insurance, or the individual would help pay.
They will accept appointments beginning about a month before the opening.
In May 2005, the Catawba Service Unit opened on the Catawba Reservation. Construction of the addition began in late 2007.
The addition, which cost between $350,000 and $400,000, was constructed next to the medical clinic's administrative offices. Carnes and her staff moved into a residential building down the street for the duration of the work.
