|
The entire idea started in 1995 with retired Encinitas dentist Bob Bobbitt and a spare room in St. James Parish Hall. Gradually, with donated equipment, Dr. Bobbitt and his cast of volunteers had grown to a three-chair clinic and “more patients than he knew what to do with.” He began providing dental care to uninsured children. But a few tears later, St. James decided to expand their Parish Hall, and the clinic went into storage.
St. Leo’s Mission, a medical clinic, offered a plot of adjacent vacant land. Dr. Roger Kingston, a local oral surgeon, came forth and raised funds and volunteers from the Del Mar Rotary Club to build a new facility from scratch. Besides the Rotarians, help came from church members, the local dental society, and community volunteers. Soon a new four-chair dental clinic and a compact lab filled the entire 600 square feet by 2000.
St. Leo’s Dental Clinic in Solana Beach, San Diego North County, California, was founded to serve the needy in that area. First, two volunteer dentists helped the children, mostly Latinos from the San Dieguito area, on Saturday mornings. The Children’s Clinic started to include orthodontics by two volunteer professionals.
The Foundation grant helped to equip a fourth dental operatory in 2002 as the need grew. The oral hygiene program was forced outside under the covered porch to accommodate the expansion.
Then on Wednesdays, the clinic added the “Welcome Home Ministries Dental Program” for women and men recently released from prison. The Night Clinic began to include those living in the local homeless shelters, and the clinic started to accept “walk-in” emergencies.
St. Leo’s Mission Dental Clinic
The Children’s Program included 45 Saturdays handling 603 appointments during the term of our grant. Our grant was supplemented by donations collected of $5554 and by 36 volunteers. The dentists volunteering their time were Drs. Beverly Martinson, Robert Bobbitt, Oscar Rivera, John Griffing, Chris Catalano, Ray Kieffer, Parisa Rahmanian, Roger Kingston, Greg Taylor, Dave Urich, Bob Rosenfeld, Thomas Goblirsch, Josefina Lopez, Bertha Solorio, Holly Oberholzer, and Jim Snow.
|
|
The operatories and the lab
The Wednesday Program was open 46 days, serving 212 appointments for the recently released from prison, 24 homeless, and 83 emergencies for a total of 319 appointments collecting $599, plus the additional volunteer dentists Drs. John Grimm, Mary Lim, and C. Tran. The volunteer Dental Hygienists were Jan Kleveland and Annaliese Carlsmith. The volunteer Dental Assistants were Grace Beckham, Consuelo Guerrero, Anke Beyer-Jordan, Gregory Shaw, Alicia Garcia, Anakarina Rojas, Anyelid Rojas, Jessica Wilhelm, Ana Contreras, and Leticia Salinas. The volunteer receptionists were Frances Beckers, Marti Kaye, Sue Rodenberger, Pedro Enriquez, Armida Gonzalez, Vilma Salini, Marylynne McCullough, and Eva Christensen. The volunteer Dental Health Educators were Sue Bobbitt and Katie Kingston. The volunteer Translator was Virginia Vogel.
The clinic asks for a $10 donation for operating expenses. Dr. Bobbitt believes that the fee adds a perceived value to the provided care and gives the patients a sense of pride. Other contributions come from local service clubs and other individuals. St. James Deacon Al Graff notes that “one of the most important things is we treat patients with dignity.”
Dr. Robert Bobbitt was presented the ADA’s 2002 Community Preventative Dentistry Award for his upstanding project. He took the $2500 award and bought more equipment for the clinic.
Dr. Bobbitt working in the compact lab
|
|
From the Desk of Foundation President M. David Campbell...
