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October 20, 2008

Medicaid dental clinic up and running

CVPH facility working through Medicaid backlog

By JEFF MEYERS

PLATTSBURGH -- The CVPH Medical Center Dental Clinic continues to offer services for the area's Medicaid patients following a switch in dentists.

Dr. Cecile Ruiz had been providing medical care for patients at the Upper Cornelia Street clinic but resigned early last summer, leaving a fairly long waiting list of patient appointments.

"I recognized that we had a strong need to fill this position," said Bruce Bancroft, manager of clinical services for the Medical Center.

"I made a list of the area physicians who had all volunteered to get the clinic started in the early 1990s to see if there was a way to keep it open."

HOURS ADJUSTED

Bancroft was able to recruit a local dentist, Dr. Alan Michaud, who has taken over dental responsibilities for the clinic.

Michaud is available at the clinic Monday through Wednesday from 4 to 8 p.m. and Friday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. The clinic had been open on a more full-time basis before Ruiz's departure.

"Even though we are open fewer hours, it has worked out very nicely," Bancroft said. "Dr. Michaud is very efficient. It will take a while, but we are cutting down on the waiting list."

Michaud's wife, Bruni Michaud, also helps out as a per diem hygienist, filling in as needed at the clinic, which serves more than 4,000 adults and children.

The facility has two chairs: one for dental work and one for dental-hygiene services.

WAITING LIST

During the one-month lapse between dentists, patients began signing up for a waiting list, with appointments scheduled in some cases up to eight months away, Bancroft noted.

Even before the down time, new patients were often waiting several months for an appointment, though the office always tries to hold slots open for emergency cases.

The clinic sees Medicaid patients only, a vital service in the community where most other dentist offices have not been taking on new Medicaid patients.

Bancroft noted that some doctors in the Plattsburgh area are now accepting a few new Medicaid cases.

The clinic first opened in 1992, when a group of about 15 area dentists, spearheaded by Dr. Robert Heins and Dr. Jerome DeSnyder, came up with an idea to volunteer their time at a clinic dedicated to patients covered by Medicaid.

The clinic initially served children but soon expanded to include adult patients as well.

The clinic recently upgraded its services by offering digital X-rays with equipment purchased by the CVPH Auxiliary.

jmeyers@pressrepublican.com

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