For years, many Block Island residents without private insurance had to go through a tedious process if they needed a dental checkup.
This usually involved traveling to the mainland, which meant taking time away from work, coordinating ferry trips to and from the island along with transportation between the dock and the dental office.
“It’s just very complicated,” said Dr. Tiffanie Waldeck, chief dental officer at Wood River Health in Hopkinton, who has treated patients from Block Island. “Most of the patients would not pursue care until something very significant happened where they’re having a true dental emergency.”
But beginning in January this will change. Block Island Health Services Inc. has partnered with Wood River Health to provide New Shoreham residents with dental services directly on the island.
The clinic, which will be located at the Block Island Medical Center, is expected to open on Jan. 11, Waldeck says. It will offer the only dental services on the island, after Dr. Paul Trombly's contract with Block Island Health Services was not renewed for 2024.
Alison Croke, CEO and president of Wood River Health, says the program is supported in part by a $40,000 donation from UnitedHealthcare that helped Wood River get startup equipment and hand instruments, and that the primary revenue stream would be from billing insurance.
As part of the partnership between the two nonprofits, Wood River Health plans to rent space within the facility and send dentists and hygienists to the island to provide care about once a month, Croke says.
Croke says the plan is to increase the number of visits to twice a month as more patients sign up and approximately 16 to 20 appointments are on the schedule for each visit.
Waldeck says treating patients on an island can be quite different than on the mainland. Some medications have to be flown in and denture work requires much more planning and coordination because there is no dental lab on the island, which is about 10 miles off the coast of Rhode Island.
But Waldeck emphasizes there will not be any limitations to the care provided through the partnership. Among the services available will be preventative, diagnostic, restorative, dentures, endodontics, root canals and extractions.
“The care they receive is the same quality of care they would get in our Hope Valley location,” Waldeck said. “The difference is how we navigate things behind the scenes.”
Waldeck and Croke estimate the program will serve approximately 300 residents of Block Island who are Medicaid beneficiaries out of the around 1,000 people who live there year-round. On top of this, Waldeck notes that there are around 10,000 people living on the island during the tourist season whom they hope to reach as well.
The partnership between Block Island Health Services and Wood River Health began more than a year ago when Waldeck and Croke traveled to the island. They were there because the health center had recently received some grant funds for portable dental equipment that they were considering using on Block Island, Croke says. Also, there was already an established relationship between the two health centers.
Croke regularly meets with leaders from health centers and Block Island was no exception. As the conversations evolved, Croke says it became clear that a more permanent solution for dental care was needed.
“So, thinking about the future and wanting to be able to provide dental access … it seemed like a very natural partnership,” Croke said.
Along with this, Block Island Health Services was going through the process of becoming Rhode Island’s only rural health clinic, a facility that meets federal criteria for providing primary care to Medicare patients in rural areas and places with a shortage of care. The Block Island clinic was seeking to form collaborations, particularly with federally qualified health centers such as Wood River, which also meets federal Medicare criteria.
“[The rural health clinic designation] got us thinking in larger circles,” said Dr. Thomas Warcup, CEO and medical director of Block Island Health Services. “It opened up collaborations, especially with federally qualified health centers, so there was a natural synergy with Wood River.”
Waldeck adds that both Wood River and Block Island Health Services share very similar missions to provide patients with a high quality of care, regardless of their ability to pay.
But patients on Block Island aren’t the only ones with something to gain from this partnership, Waldeck says. The partnership will give both health centers the ability to leverage each other’s resources in a way that can also boost the care they provide.
“Combining forces really gives us an opportunity to provide residents of the island with a holistic approach to care,” Waldeck said. “It’s another opportunity for us to provide that team-based approach and to create a team with different players.”
(SUBS 5TH Paragraph to clarify that before this new program, limited dental services on Block Island were offered by Dr. Paul Trombly for more than 20 years. His contract with Block Island Health Services was not renewed for 2024. Trombly said he only took the insurance carriers Blue Cross and Blue Shield and Delta Dental, although he served patients who could provide other forms of payment or received assistance from a special fund.)
