Sarrell Regional Dental Center By Anne Muriithi The Sarrell Regional Dental Center for Public Health, with locations in Anniston, Heflin, and Talladega, is a non-profit organization believing everyone deserves world class treatment, no matter where you are from, your income or your beliefs. [They] are deeply committed to these values and in providing high quality dental health. Providing comprehensive dental treatment services at no charge to patients ages three to twenty with Medicaid or ALL-KIDS insurance, SRDC is filling the need Cardiologist Dr. Warren Sarrell recognized in the area. 12 Gemof thehills
A health assessment performed by the University of Alabama at Birmingham School of Public Health was undertaken at the request of the Calhoun County Community Foundation to examine issues of access to health care and the health status of the population. The study found that the third most deficient healthcare delivery problem was dental care to economically disadvantaged children, says Brandi Mangum, director of marketing for Sarrell Dental Centers and JSU alumna. In 2001, Dr. Sarrell, along with local dentists Dr. Bruce Cunningham, Dr. Donald King, Dr. Wayne Townsend, and Dr. Timothy Kerper created a committee to review the best possible response to the community s dental crisis. Their solution: to create a dental center providing assistance to those children shown in the study requiring the most dental service. Out of the plan, the Calhoun County Dental Center was created. Ready and with a dentist, the dental center opened its doors to the public January 6, 2004. Mangum said the opening of the dental center was very difficult because recruiting a dentist to work with underprivileged children and Alabama state Medicaid re-imbursement was thought to be undesirable. After much conversation with the Associate Dean of UAB Dental School Dr. Thornton, the dental center was able to commit two pediatric residents per week. All three centers are now partnered with UAB. After a year, it was evident the center needed to hire a full-time person to oversee operations. In January 2005, Jeffrey A. Parker, a marketing professor at JSU (recently retired with a successful background as CEO for several large corporations), was hired as the center s CEO and produced positive operational results within his first month on board. This non-profit organization employs more than forty people, JSU alumni and students filling many of these spots. Mangum said her experience at JSU gave her a great understanding in business and marketing. Mr. Parker s business policy course and sales course at JSU most definitely helped me the most, said Mangum. Those two classes really taught me about how to handle situations that would occur in an executive meeting or objections in a sales presentation. Without these two classes, I do not think I could have made it in the real world work environment. We hire the best and the brightest, which normally means they are from JSU. Our interns are given responsibility with accountability, said Parker. We pride ourselves on giving students doing their internships here a taste of the real deal. If they excel here and it is what they would like to do, we love to keep them here even after graduation. Burt Arthur completed his internship for JSU with Sarrell Dental Center, and was hired as the financial manager in May of 2005, and went on to become the director of operations. Because of the deeply rooted values and success of the staff, Sarrell Regional Dental Center was cited as an Outstanding Organization for 2006-2007 by the National Football League Alumni Atlanta Chapter. The NFL Alumni is a non-profit service organization of former professional football players working voluntarily on behalf of youth and charity. The center is the first in the state to receive this honor. The Sarrell Regional Dental Center began in Anniston, expanded to Heflin and Talladega, and continues to grow. Sarrell Regional recently opened Sarrell Regional Optical Center in Heflin, providing optical services to children on Medicaid and ALL- KIDS. Chairman of the Medical Center Memorial Foundation Don King said part of the foundation s strategic plan for Wellness Connection is to provide needed dental services to more children. To Spring 2007 13
complete this, the foundation donated a 40- foot Blue Bird bus to the SRDC. Outfitted with state-of-the-art equipment, the mobile dental unit hit the road in February. SRDC Graphic Designer Cristina Almanza, a JSU grad, designed a wrap to go on the bus. It is a dental office on wheels, providing care to children all over the state of Alabama who might otherwise not receive any dental services. Words cannot express how grateful we are to the Medical Center Memorial Foundation for this most generous gift. It will allow us to further extend our reach to help underserved children in Calhoun, Cleburne, and Talladega counties as well as outlying counties in Alabama, stated Parker. The mobile unit is staffed full time with a dentist, hygienist, and assistant. The clinic s vision for the future is to continue to expand and help as many children as possible. Recently, an optical center in Heflin opened, also for children on Medicaid or ALL-KIDS. The optical center shares a similar culture to the dental ones. Sarrell Dental treated more than 8,600 children in 2006. The centers use state-ofthe-art technology, each working completely paperless. Treatment rooms have flat screen TVs above the dental chairs so the children can watch cartoons while getting their teeth cleaned. The waiting room welcomes and entertains with bright blue and green paint across the wall. Each picture on the wall is labeled in English and Spanish; there is a bright yellow sun / sol and more. And the paintings aren t the only bilingual bonuses to the centers all offices are staffed with English and Spanish speakers as well. We try to make it a fun experience for the kids so that they want to come back and get into a routine of good oral hygiene, says Mangum. Additionally, the clinics have a no cavities club so children who do not have cavities can pose for pictures with a large stuffed tiger and have their picture posted on the club wall. The center offers comprehensive dental services including cleanings, fillings, crowns, and other services as a gift to families in need. They use high standards of practice for public companies in a nonprofit environment, with no debt and no acceptance of donations. In two years, Sarrell went from being the smallest dental center in the county to the largest in the state. For more information, contact Anniston office, 256-741-7340; Heflin office, 256-463-2700; Talladega office, 256-315-494; or email office@sarrelldental.org. Patients are seen by appointment only, and office hours and days vary by location. 14 Gemof thehills
Reprint with permission of the Gem of the Hills, Jacksonville State University Spring 2007 For a full view of the Gem of the Hills Magazine, please click in the following link: http://www.jsu.edu/alumni/gem_spring_2007.pdf