County commissioners support Health Department dental program

The Local Health Department is working to bring dental services to the Eastern end of the county.

Kim Barnhill, the interim director of the health Department told county commissioners this week that she is writing a grant for 90 thousand dollars that would fund 5 day a week dental services from the Carrabelle health department building.

She is also applying for a 25 thousand dollar grant that would provide dental sealant for local schoolchildren is 2^nd and 7^th grades.

The dental services, which Miss Barnhill believes will be funded, would focus on preventative care and employ a full time dental hygienist and also pay to have a dentist scheduled for restorative care like pulling teeth of filling cavities.

If the grant is approved, the money will be available in May and the services should be up and running by mid-August.

The county is required to match one quarter of the grant and agreed to kick in 22,500 dollars for the services from money they took from the health department when the Carrabelle clinic was closed.

County commissioners said increased dental services are good news but it doesn’t make up for the number of primary health care services the health department has cut.

The county commission is still upset because the Carrabelle health department location was closed last year without any advanced warning and since then health officials at the state level have been unwilling to address Franklin County’s concerns.

Commissioner Cheryl Sanders said she doesn’t have any use for the health department any more – she feels the health department and the counties are supposed to be partners in serving county residents, but the health department has not been a good partner.

Miss Barnhill said she understands the frustration – heath departments statewide have seen a 41 percent cut in funding since 2008 and are fighting to provide the services they can without duplicating services already provided in the private sector.

Dental service is one area she can move on quickly and one that over time will have a big impact on the community.

Commissioner Smokey Parrish said he feels many people will benefit from having access to a dentist, especially young people.

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