Access to Care Corner
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Centre Volunteers in Medicine
Submitted by: Kristen Houser, MPA
Executive Director

Centre Volunteers in Medicine (CVIM) is a non-profit organization, founded in 2003, that provides free basic and preventative medical and dental services to residents of Centre County who have no insurance and who make 200% or less of the federal poverty level. Most medical and dental services at CVIM are provided by professionals who volunteer their time and services.

The Need For Dental Care
Before opening the doors to patients, clinics around the country advised us to plan on offering dental care to the community. The CVIM planning committee was more focused on the local need for medical care, and did not initially plan to address dental needs. On February 10, 2003, the first patient walked through the doors of CVIM into our medical clinic with an abscessed tooth. We quickly learned how untreated dental problems develop into medical problems and have been committed to providing dental care ever since. 

CVIM began providing dental services with a mobile dental unit operated through a collaborative effort with Cen-Clear Child Services. The tremendous need for dental care became evident immediately through the visits on the mobile dental unit as well as through doctors identifying dental emergencies in our medical clinic. An in-house dental clinic was opened in April 2005 to provide more comprehensive care to more individuals. Last year the CVIM dental clinic provided 1459 patient visits to 595 patients.

Current Dental Services
CVIM currently has three dental operatories and over 1200 people waiting to receive dental care. On average CVIM needs to provide six to seven dental visits to restore our patients to good dental health. CVIM estimates it will take years to completely care for those on our waiting list as an additional 50 patients apply for services every month!

• Five local dentists volunteer their services in our facility
• Seventeen see our patients at no cost in their own offices.
• Three local endodontists provide one free root canal per month.
• All local oral surgeons provide care at a reduced fee schedule and one periodontist provides consults at no charge.
• Centre County is considered to be a dental Health Professional Shortage Area therefore having a shortage of dental health professionals to meet the demand of the population.

CVIM coordinates a “Give Kids a Smile Event” that provides comprehensive dental care, eye exams and glasses, and hearing screenings for up to 100 uninsured children. The event is hosted by our local pediatric dental practice (Pediatric Dental Care) and a local optometrist office (Nittany Eye Associates). Volunteer dentists, hygienists and assistants staff the event.

Join Our Team
We are looking for caring, compassionate dental professionals to volunteer to join our team in providing excellent quality care to uninsured residents of Centre County. If you are a dental professional and would like to tour our clinic or volunteer, please contact Dr. Heather Raymond, DMD, at (814) 231-4043, by email at hraymond@cvim.net, or by mail at CVIM, P.O. Box 10365, State College, PA 16805.