Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 2008. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.
Bay Area Reporter - September 4, 2008
Seth Hemmelgarn, s.hemmelgarn@ebar.com
The Alfred A. Dugoni School of Dentistry will continue to provide services to some patients, and is working on finding care for others.
Dr. Richard Fredekind, associate dean for clinical services at the university, said the program closed because Medi-Cal reimbursement rates have not kept up with the rising costs of doing business. Besides people with HIV and AIDS, he said the clinic also served patients with developmental disabilities and those with other special needs.
Fredekind said of the nearly 2,000 patients who had been seen at the Advanced General Dentistry program, the one that closed, about 1,000 of them will no longer be seen at the school.
Out of the patients who won't be seen at the school anymore, about 166 are people whose services were reimbursed through Ryan White HIV/AIDS Treatment Modernization Act (formerly the Ryan White CARE Act) funding.
Most of those patients have had major problems such as gaping holes and infections taken care of, and they now need only periodic cleanings, Fredekind said. The school is working on a way to make sure they continue to receive care.
The closing of the program, which was announced just over three months before it happened, comes at a time when dental care can be hard to find for people who have limited incomes and rely on Medi-Cal.
The school's CARE Clinic, which is a one-chair, one-day-per-week clinic located in the dental school where care is provided by a licensed dentist, will continue to provide dental treatment for patients living with HIV/AIDS, according to Fredekind. Other people with HIV/AIDS are also seen in the main student clinic.
Dr. Patrick J. Ferrillo Jr., dean of the school, said closing AGD was a "difficult decision" but "the numbers just didn't work." The school had to continually divert significant resources for the program from other places in the school.
The cost of services provided by the school to patients with Ryan White coverage was more than what was actually provided by the government under that program, Fredekind said.
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