About Oral Health Workforce Grant
The Health Resources & Services Administration (HRSA) awarded Oregon Health Authority (OHA) a $1.6 million, four-year grant starting September 2022 to develop innovative programs that focus on the workforce needs of dental health professional shortage areas in Oregon, address health disparities and create more equitable oral health care delivery systems. In collaboration with interested groups, Coordinated Care Organizations (CCOs) and Dental Care Organizations (DCOs), OHA identified four counties in Oregon (Lane, Douglas, Josephine and Jackson) with residents who experience significant challenges accessing oral health care, where the grant’s resources could be used most effectively.
Grant Objectives and Partners
OHA’s grant will develop community-based solutions that will expand access, improve quality, and increase oral health workforce recruitment and retention efforts through three objectives:
- Utilizing the Extension for Community Healthcare Outcomes (ECHO) platform for clinical rotation programs to expand the capacity of dental preceptors
- Integrating teledentistry services into primary care and behavioral health clinics
- Expanding the use of mobile dental clinics
OHA has partnered with Oregon Health & Science University and Capitol Dental Care, two prominent institutions providing oral health services in Oregon, to help achieve these objectives.
To supplement this work, OHA’s Oral Health Workforce Grant Coordinator will be continually forging relationships with clinicians, local institutions and administrators, and community partners across the state to compile information on the oral health workforce. To improve dental provider recruitment and retention rates in the grant’s priority areas, OHA will also be introducing interested groups to state and federal incentive programs, including OHA’s
Health Care Provider Incentive Program, that are available to future and current clinicians.