Pike Dental Center Awarded $300,000 Grant for Expansion

Honesdale, PA (October 30, 2019) — Treatment for nearly 2,000 additional patients at the Pike Dental Center will be made possible through a $300,000 grant from the Oral Health Infrastructure Grant Program of the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA).

Officials of Wayne Memorial Community Health Centers (WMCHC) were notified of the grant award earlier this month. The monies will be used to create a 748 square foot expansion within the existing dental center located in Lords Valley, PA. The result, an increase from five to nine operatories at the facility, has the potential of generating between 8,500 – 9,000 additional dental visits per year.

Pike Dental Center was constructed to meet the growing demand for accessible dental care for the greater Pike County area. The state-of-the-art facility first opened its doors in January of 2014 with a total of five operatories. The Lords Valley office, currently staffed by Megan Martino, DMD and John Ridd, DMD, is an extension of the Together For Health Dental Center in Honesdale.

“Even with the development of the Pike office having taken place no more than five years ago, it remains a challenge to provide care as timely as we’d like,” stated Frederick Jackson, executive director, WMCHC. “Wait times exceed four months for some services.”

According to WMCHC’s Dental Manager Nichole Yannone, it became evident as early on as 2015 that the current Pike facility wasn’t large enough to meet the need of the service area. Yannone says the dentists, hygienists and support staff at Pike Dental look forward to the “increased access to care, appointment availability and additional space in which to work” that will be realized when the expansion comes to fruition.

Jackson explained that WMCHC is still “in the design phase of the project” at this time. However, it is hoped that construction will begin in early 2020 with completion by the summer.

WMCHC is a federally qualified health center clinically affiliated with Wayne Memorial Health System, Inc. In addition to dental services, WMCHC offers primary care, women’s health, pediatric services, pulmonology, general surgery and behavioral health services at satellite offices located in Wayne, Pike, Lackawanna and Susquehanna Counties.  For more information on all services, call 570-253-8390

Photo: Pike Dental Center Staff is shown with Frederick Jackson, executive director, WMCHC and Jack Dennis, executive director, Wayne Memorial Health Foundation, following the announcement of a $300,000 HRSA grant for the facility. Pike Dental Center will expand from the current five to a total of nine patient operatories through use of the funding. Front row, left to right, Christine Karp; Michelle Ristaino, Megan Martino, DMD and Jackson. Back row: Dennis; Nichole Yannone, dental manager, WMCHC; Grace Shoemaker; Christina Collins and Holly Dottle.