· Sheila Hagar, Walla Walla Union-Bulletin
· Jun 21, 2015
Oral health care scarce for impoverished in area
SonBridge a dental oasis for people on financial fringe
Clinic helps Medicaid, uninsured patients
While Yvette Dieu is being seen by dentist Dr. Norman Passmore, her husband James Duncan tries to relax in the waiting room of SonBridge Community Center’s dental clinic.
Dieu, a Walla Walla Community College culinary student is here for a chipped tooth, while Duncan, 52, has been dogged by a cracked tooth that needs to come out, he said.
Neither has “great” dental insurance, Duncan said, and discovery of this clinic that accepts his government coverage came just in time, right after saw a flier about the clinic.
“We have looked at other places, but trying to get someone to take this form of health care is about impossible,” he said.
It’s not a familiar situation for Duncan. An officer for Washington’s Department of Correction, he’s used to working and paying his part of an employer-based insurance plan. He’s used to being a sports coach for kids, a way he saw as helping others.
A double-bypass heart surgery, however, has sidelined everything, including the ability to access dental care.
“If we hadn’t seen that flier, I don’t know what we’d do. To find a place like this that takes this insurance is a blessing.”
A few feet away, Camille Hallowell is on her phone, checking on her six children at home in Prescott. Despite a wait of two months and an 80-plus-mile round trip for this day’s appointment, she’s all smiles about getting a filling.
Finding a dentist has been a slog for her family of eight. Her husband, Joe Hallowell, is in charge of the agriculture program at the nonprofit Jubilee Leadership Academy in Prescott. Joe and Camille qualify for Apple Health, Washington’s Medicaid program, which includes dental care for adults.
Federal law requires state Medicaid programs to cover dental care for children, but care for adults varies from state to state.
Not so long ago, a dentist new to the Tri-Cities was happy to accept the Hallowells as Apple Health patients.
“But now they are established, they were not so nice. They were rude, like they were just tolerating us,” Camille recalled.
“We’re not bums. We’ve been self-employed and paid our own taxes for years. Joe’s only been (otherwise) employed for a couple of years. It’s not like we’re mooching off the government,” she said.
There’s been no perception of judgment at SonBridge, she said. Even the agency’s policy of just one procedure per visit is eased by the staff’s friendly manner.
“They’ve been awesome. They don’t treat you like you’re on Medicaid,” Hallowell said.
If the couple had to pay for dental insurance, they could scrape by to make it happen, she added.
“But it’s so freaking expensive for Joe and I. We, well, we wouldn’t go very often and that’s why I hadn’t gone in like five years.”
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