Creighton School of Dentistry awarded Rural Health Transformation Grant
The Creighton University School of Dentistry will receive $4.625 million in Rural Health Transformation Grant funding over the next five years to strengthen rural healthcare initiatives across Nebraska.
Supported through state and federal funding, the grant will provide $925,000 annually over five years to help finance programs focused on expanding access to dental care in rural communities. Funding will support rural clinical rotations for students, emergency room diversion clinics and additional initiatives designed to connect underserved populations with needed dental care.
Many Nebraska communities continue to face shortages in access to oral healthcare services, particularly in rural and frontier areas.
For Macnessa Fidlin, a third-year dental student, researching dental deserts across Nebraska under the mentorship of Sonia Maria Rocha-Sanchez, PhD, MBA, associate dean for research in the School of Dentistry, helped illustrate the challenges many rural residents face when seeking care. Findings from her research were used in the grant application process.
“There are geographic barriers between where dental providers are located and patients who may have to travel 50 miles or more to receive care,” Fidlin said. “There are transportation, language, insurance and monetary barriers. Breaking down barriers that create rural dental deserts could really make a difference in helping more patients get the dental care they need.”
The funding will expand opportunities for students to engage with rural communities through clinical rotations to local public health departments and provide hands-on experiences that deepen their understanding of community-based care.
“Our students have been exposed to some of this work already, but this funding allows us to provide a more enriching experience, while fully embracing our mission of service to the community,” said Jillian Wallen, BDS, MS, MBA dean of the Creighton University School of Dentistry. “We hope this experience in public health dentistry will influence how and where our students choose to practice, and that more will be encouraged to consider staying and practicing in Nebraska or in rural America where dentists are so desperately needed after graduation.”
For Richie Joseph, a rising senior in the School of Dentistry, these public health dental experiences have reinforced the importance of meeting patients where they are and addressing barriers to care.
Joseph said the experience has also broadened his understanding of the role healthcare providers can play in their communities.
“As future dentists, our scope of care is not limited just to who walks in our clinic doors,” Joseph said. “There are ample opportunities for us to meet the patients where they are.”
Among the initiatives supported through the grant is the emergency room diversion clinic, which helps connect patients experiencing dental emergencies with immediate and more appropriate dental care, avoiding more costly visits to hospital emergency departments. Through the program, the School of Dentistry serves patients from 90 Nebraska counties, including many who would otherwise seek treatment in emergency rooms because they are unable to access timely dental care locally.
The grant will also support patient navigation efforts that help patients access ongoing treatment and community resources.
Hayley Franklin, patient navigator for the School of Dentistry, said continued support through the grant allows Creighton to keep programs such as the After-Hours Clinic running while helping patients connect with longer-term care.
“The impact is visible in the moment when I have patients sitting across from me, so thankful that they were finally able to be seen, heard, and provided immediate affordable care,” Franklin said. “Some of these patients have been living with pain for years due to a lack of insurance, lack of transportation, financial difficulties, or trouble finding a provider who could see them.”
The After-Hours Clinic, operated by faculty, staff, oral surgery residents and dental students, has been fully operational for the past two years and has already served more than 2,500 patients. By providing an alternative to emergency room visits for dental concerns, the program helps reduce strain on Nebraska's healthcare system while connecting patients with appropriate dental services. Receiving sustained funding to support this clinic for the next five years is critical to the success of this initiative.
For Franklin, the work is about more than addressing an immediate dental concern. It is about helping patients find a path to continued care.
“The Creighton Dental School is one of a handful of safety-net clinics that provide a dental home for patients who would otherwise have no alternative for dental care,” Franklin said.
“The School of Dentistry and Creighton University are honored to be recipients of this funding and are committed to providing excellent oral health services to the communities in which we work, learn and serve,” Wallen said. “We recognize that access to oral healthcare remains a significant challenge for many individuals and communities. Our responsibility as educators is to help students understand those challenges, become part of the solution and provide compassionate, high-quality care where it is needed most.”
