Title
Dental Director’s Report - Dr. Cockey
Body
Community Outreach/Oral Health Promotion
I was invited to speak at the Lake County Black Health Expo at the Shiloh Baptist Church, 800 S Genesee St., Waukegan. The expo was entitled Benefits and Beyond Expectation. The panel included a medical provider, a nutritionist, and a behavioral health provider. My topic included information on the impact of diabetes and oral health. I also discussed prevention and treatment of oral diseases throughout life cycles.
Departmental Workforce and Provider Recruitment
The Dental program has filled three open positions through the hire of 2 dentists and 1 dental assistant. One of the new dentists will be full-time at the North Chicago Health Center while the other will cover at Belvidere Medical Building and North Chicago Health Center. The new dental assistant will fill a vacancy at the North Chicago Health Center created when the existing dental assistants transferred to the North Shore Health Center.
Recruitment of Underrepresented Minorities
I have consulted with HR on this matter and provided them with some resources to assist in the recruitment of underrepresented minorities. One is the National Dental Association and the other the Hispanic Dental Association. They were also provided with the name of two dental schools, Howard University and Meharry School of Dentistry, whose graduates are primarily underrepresented minorities.
Dental Hygienist as a Member of the Dental Care Team
The new dental hygienist is now settled in and covering at Midlakes Health Center and Belvidere Medical Building. The Patient Access Center recently underwent training and are scheduling patients with her. Her role includes providing preventive services, patient education, and periodontal scaling. She can also function as a dental assistant, if needed, as she has expanded function training. The inclusion of a dental hygienist will hopefully expand access to dental care within our organization. In the future, I hope to further expand this service to other practice sites.
The Joint Commission Readiness
We recently made a few updates to our Infection Control policy to include reporting for waterline testing and waterline shocking workflow. All dental staff recently underwent a written examination on the infection control and sterilization process. Moreover, we conducted Sterilization Competencies for all dental assistants. This was in conjunction with activities required for our Infection Control Plan. There were some findings that will need to be addressed. Findings will be reported to the Infection Control Committee. Moreover, a report will be generated and shared with staff members.
Suggested Motion
None, for information only.