The Hawaii Dental Service Foundation has given the Waimanalo Health Center a $500,000 grant to expand its services with a new clinic in Kaneohe and to renovate its existing offices in Waimanalo.
The grant will enable the expansion of the center’s services, making them more readily available to Waimanalo and Windward Oahu residents in need of dental care, said Anthony Kim, dental director of the Waimanalo Health Center.
“There are a lot of pockets of need from Kaneohe to Kahaluu, all up through Hauula,” Kim said. “As far as patients in those areas having a convenient access point for health services, it’s pretty tough. … I look at this as a first step for the health center in growing into the Kaneohe area to provide services that are much needed in that urban core and up the coast.”
The Waimanalo Health Center’s dental program was established in 2009, and Kim and his staff have since noticed various increasing needs throughout the community. Kim said many patients skipped regular dental appointments throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, even though the center has remained open for the past three years. As a result, many patients now come in with urgent dental needs or emergencies.
Others have lost their dental coverage after being laid off from their jobs during the pandemic, Kim said.
Compared with other states, Hawaii has particularly high rates of dental decay, which Kim said can be the result of things like poor nutrition, lack of access to adequate dental care or lack of oral care education.
The Waimanalo community is considered by the federal government to be a medically underserved population, according to a WHC news release. Additionally, more than half of WHC’s dental patients are Native Hawaiian — a population that experiences higher rates of chronic diseases such as diabetes.
Patients with diabetes can have increased bacteria in their saliva, which can lead to tooth decay or gum disease, according to WHC’s news release. Those who suffer from heart disease or other types of organ diseases also can experience increased inflammation if their oral health declines, Kim said.
In addition to the ways in which WHC has familiarized itself with its patients’ needs, it also has made notable efforts to make its services more accessible, said Shere Saneishi-Kim, director of the HDS Foundation.
“They are a safety net in the community,” Saneishi- Kim said. “The Waimanalo Health Center is a federally qualified health center, and they serve everyone, whether you have insurance or you don’t have insurance at all, or if you’re on Medicaid.”
By surveying Windward Oahu and Waimanalo community groups, WHC identified a large number of patients from the Windward Coast, Kim said. Because of that, WHC had been seeking to expand into Kaneohe prior to receiving the grant, he said.
For those who are uninsured, WHC also offers a sliding fee scale, which can help to significantly bring down dental costs depending on one’s household income, Kim said. It also accepts patients who receive dental coverage through Medicaid, an option that he said is in short supply in Hawaii.
With the funds provided by the grant, WHC has been able to increase its staff and renovate and refurbish the new Kaneohe clinic, which Kim estimates will be able to serve up to 4,000 patients at full capacity.
The grant also will enable WHC to renovate its old clinic in Waimanalo and increase the number of dental chairs there to 10 from four, Kim said.
The new Kaneohe clinic, at 45-600 Kamehameha Highway, had its soft opening Wednesday, and is scheduled to officially open April 10, Kim said.
Linsey Dower covers ethnic and cultural affairs and is a corps member of Report for America, a national service organization that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues and communities.
