Peninsula Community Health Services of Alaska Dental received a national award of excellence in November. The award to PCHS Dental was presented at the National Network for Oral Health Access conference, which took place Nov. 11-14 in New Orleans, Louisiana.
The award was given to two other health clinics across the country — one in Santa Barbara, California and one in Palm Beach County, Florida
For the last three years, PCHS has been working with DentaQuest, a nonprofit organization focused on improving efficiency, effectiveness and quality in dental care, according to a press release.
Dental Director Jake Owens said working at PCHS has been a very rewarding experience.
“We get the opportunity to help people with more affordable and quality health care, something that is truly needed in all communities,” Owens said.
The press release from PCHS noted the DentaQuest program helped to improve community access to oral health care, and improved clinic operations, ensuring viability in the future.
“For two years, (DentaQuest) advised us on potential improvements, from policy and procedure to improving access, and getting the organization to be more sustainable,” Owens said. “Our team did an excellent job over those two years, and we made such significant improvements. We were selected as one of three centers of excellence in the United States.”
DentaQuest and the National Network for Oral Health Access paid for the PCHS Dental team to fly down to their New Orleans conference, where they accepted the award on Nov. 15.
