Oral Health Hero: HCA Dental Team.

Pixie Needham, Jayson Diaz, and Janice Tadeo lead HCA's Dental Team. The team—together and with state, private, and nonprofit partners—works to ensure people in Washington with Apple Health (Medicaid) insurance can access high quality, culturally appropriate care in their communities. Their tireless efforts have resulted in the recent Access to Baby and Child Dentistry (ABCD) Program expansion, Oral Health Connections’ extension, and DentistLink’s new public-private partnership status with the HCA.

Learn more about what makes the HCA Dental Team an Oral Health Hero. 

Oral Health Hero: Teresita Batayola.

Teresita Batayola retired from her role as CEO of International Community Health Services (ICHS) in December 2022 after 17 years of leadership. Under Batayola, ICHS expanded from two sites to 11 in Seattle, Bellevue, and Shoreline—the majority of these sites now providing integrated and accessible oral health services. Thanks to Batayola’s leadership and the entire ICHS team, they more than doubled its capacity to provide culturally and linguistically appropriate integrated dental services to immigrant and refugee communities.

Learn more about what makes Batayola an Oral Health Hero.

ALUMNI SPOTLIGHT

Dr. Burt Goodman named 2022 WSDA Citizen of the Year.

Dr. Burt Goodman is one of the founders and the first president of the Washington Dental Service Foundation (Arcora's former name). We thank him for all he's done to improve oral and overall health in Washington state, including the creation of our SmileMobile in the mid-1990s. Dr. Goodman said of the SmileMobile, "That was my baby. We realized that when people are in need, sometimes you have to bring the care to them."

On behalf of the entire Arcora team, we congratulate Dr. Goodman on his recognition as the Washington State Dental Association's (WSDA) Citizen of the Year.

Read full recognition in the latest issue of WSDA News.

IMPROVING ACCESS TO CARE

Snapshot data for Apple Health (Medicaid) utilization.

We now have FY 2021 Apple Health (Medicaid) utilization data reports for download on our website—leveraging the most up-to-date dental data available from the Washington State Health Care Authority. Our reports are broken down by county and by age group. Use these reports to inform your work to improve access to dental care for Washingtonians.

Download data reports on our website. 

GRANTMAKING

Submit letter of intent for capital clinic funding.

Safety net dental programs are invited to apply for capital funding through our latest round of Capital Clinic Access (CCA) grants. Arcora Foundation’s CCA grants provide up to $250,000 per project to help programs expand to serve more people, particularly Black, Indigenous, and communities of color that experience oral health disparities and face challenges accessing dental care.

Submit a brief letter of intent on our website by Jan. 20.

COMMUNITY CONNECTIONS

Smile Survey screenings begin this month.

The Smile Survey (Basic Screening Survey in Washington) is the most comprehensive source of children’s oral health surveillance data in our state. The data provides a point in time look at: 

• Rates of treated and untreated decay, including rampant decay. 
• Rates of dental sealant application. 
• Trends over the history of the survey. 

The last Smile Survey was during the 2015-16 school year. This survey usually happens every five years. The COVID-19 pandemic delayed screenings set to happen in 2020 until the 2022-23 school year. 

Starting this month through the end of the school year, dental providers will perform screenings on children in second and third grades in communities across the state. This hands-on data collection activity will provide much-needed insight into the current oral health status of Washington children, including the impacts of the pandemic and access to dental care. 

Learn more about the Smile Survey and its findings on our website.