By Cliff Lewis
Beginning in 2003, Water Street Health Services (WSHS), provided free dental care services to the uninsured residents of Water Street Ministries’ various programs. Then, in February of 2008, the organization opened up those services to any uninsured Lancastrian living below 200% of Federal poverty guidelines. WSHS went on to serve 2,557 dental visits in 2008, 87% more than the year before.
Since most similar clinics in Lancaster County exist to provide accessible service to those under public medical assistance, WSHS is rather unique in its mission to serve those with no insurance at all.
As a faith-based organization, WSHS is not supported by government contributions, but rather, by private grants, personal donations, and the many service hours volunteered by 22 local dentists. And with volunteer commitment being the engine of this operation, Dental Administrator Robynn Rixse is constantly working to persuade more of Lancaster’s 300 dentists—and countless other dental professionals—to donate their time to this program.
The dental facility, part of Water Street Ministries’ broad complex on the 200 block of South Prince Street, comfortably fits in a spacious wing of the Heath Services building. While providing a grand tour, Rixse had to pause at her office and note that, prior to a January 2007 expansion, this was the size of the entire facility. In a space the size of a large bedroom, WSHS housed two dental chairs, an x-ray darkroom, and the Dental Administrator’s office.
Today, the facility appears much like any other dental office: There are separate, spacious rooms for a lab, a darkroom, patient services, medical supplies, and a staff break room. Of the four dental chairs available, three share a room, while one is cordoned off for children or patients in need of special care.
The office opens five days a week, providing a variety of dental services such as cleanings, fillings, extractions, and dentures. Dentures, in particular, are in high demand: “We could do dentures 24/7 and still not meet the need,” Rixse said. And each week, the center encounters three to four cases of “meth-mouth,” a rampant tooth decay brought about by heavy methamphetamine use.
In addition to servicing the oral needs of its visitors, WSHS seeks to communicate personal care and unconditional love to all of its patients. This quality, according to Director of Communications Maria Schaszberger, falls right in line with the organization’s spiritual convictions: “Ultimately, the services that we provide are a tangible expression of God’s love for each of us. We value each person for who they were created to be, not based on any actions or choices they make.”
One of Rixse’s favorite stories is that of a woman who came to their office with her front teeth missing due to domestic abuse. A court date was rapidly approaching where she would have to face her husband—the one responsible for her demoralizing injury: “As a group, we all banded together with our lab and a doctor, and she walked out of here with teeth, smiling and crying—like I am. She contacted us later to tell us that she won her court case, and she went in there with a huge smile.”
For more information about Water Street Health Services and its dental program for the uninsured, please click here.
