Kirksville seeks dentistry school

The Kirksville community is attempting to offset the cost of a new dentistry school in order to feel the effect of a potential $98 million economic boost.

Heinz Woehlk, vice president for communication and special assistant to the president at A.T. Still University, said the Northeast Missouri Health Council Inc. and a local committee are raising awareness and money to help sway the ATSU Board of Governors to choose Kirksville as the location for a new dentistry school. Their competition includes San Diego and Orlando, Fla.

Once the school reaches capacity at 70 students per year in the four-year institution, the economic impact would be approximately $98 million annually.

"It's going to take a strong, organized, coordinated community effort for us to overcome both San Diego and Orlando, Fla. to win this expansion," said Phil Tate, director of job creation for Kirksville Regional Economic Development Inc.

Tate said the dental school would be the most exciting  and important economic development that Kirksville has had in years. The dentistry school would add approximately 300 more students and professors to the city's population. It would also increase the number of prospective students and students' families visiting Kirksville.

"It is not the traditional economic development we think of, in terms of bringing a new company to town," Tate said. "It doesn't really fit that mold, but it will have outstanding economic impact on the community and the region."

Last Friday, an unexpected source of support for the dental school arrived when NMHC was awarded $3.8 million to help promote oral health and primary care in northeastern Missouri. Andy Grimm, CEO of NMHC, said they entered their project to receive funding from the United States Department of Health and Human Services under the Affordable Care Act.

"The timing of this award is extremely good for the Kirksville community," Grimm said, according to the Oct. 11 press release. "Particularly in light of the discussions ATSU is having regarding the establishment of a new dental school in Kirksville."

Grimm said the NMHC research found many barriers for rural northeastern Missourians attempting to access oral health care, and that he hopes this funding will help residents gain access to more care. The funding is for all nine counties the council presides over and is specifically for "the operation, expansion and construction of Community Health Centers," according to the press release.

"The Northeast Missouri Health Council is extremely interested in a partnership that could create a Teaching Health Center, a model being developed across the country," Grimm said, according to the press release. "We are very hopeful that ATSU pursues a school in Kirksville, as the synergy created by our two organizations working together could increase the number of patients we could serve even more."

Ranee Brayton, local committee co-chair and associate CEO at the Northeast Regional Medical Center, said a committee was formed that is dedicated to raising funds for the potential dental school. She said it aims to raise one million dollars to present to ATSU's Board of Governors as a show of goodwill. The committee hopes to have the money raised by February, when the Board will make its decision.

She said the committee's first goal is to educate the public about the potential dentistry school through meetings. Its first meeting is noon today at the Shrine Club and is open to the public.

"Our plan is to establish broad support and educate those who aren't aware of the impact of a dental school coming to Kirksville, to the economic benefits," Brayton said.

She said dentists, business owners, banking industry professionals and real estate companies have contacted the committee and pledged their support for the new dental school. Brayton said the committee's second purpose is to identify groups and individuals who could support the fundraising effort.

She said other cities also are very interested in attracting the dental school, so the committee's focus is to show Kirksville's community support. She said an additional school and additional students would bring more diversity and economic growth, which will aid the whole Kirksville community, including Truman.

"Because education is one of the cornerstones that Kirksville is built on, and we are recognized as a community for education, this is simply another way to demonstrate community support for higher education and the impact it has on the area," Brayton said.

Last week, ATSU began working on a feasibility study to test Kirksville's viability for a new dental school. Woehlk said they would be looking at cost, availability of faculty, location of the dental school, number of patients for students to see and other factors.

"Most importantly, Kirksville is a rural area and ATSU's mission in its medical schools and its dental schools and its other schools is to serve the underserved populations and uninsured and underinsured people and rural areas," Woehlk said. "So that fits very well."

Woehlk said the dental school would provide more dental and oral health care for the underserved population in Missouri, and especially northern Missouri. He said there is a national shortage of dental practitioners and that the average age of dental practitioners is 55.