Washtenaw County’s approximately 60,000 residents on Medicaid or without any dental insurance will have a source for dental work starting next year. The Washtenaw County Commissioners Wednesday night approved plans for a Public Health Department owned dental clinic.
Acting Health Officer Ellen Rabinowitz says thanks to a partnership with Michigan Community Dental Clinics the clinic won’t cost the county money to offer service to 6,000 patients a year. The county will have to pay $1.5 million in start-up costs but will be repaid over the length of the agreement.
Rabinowitz notes Michigan’s expansion of Medicaid in April will add about 16,000 county residents. The clinic will be located in Saint Joesph Mercy Health System’s Haab Building in Ypsilanti.
Rabinowitz says patients on Medicaid or without insurance have had a pressing need for this type of large clinic in Washtenaw County for years. She says the Medicaid expansion means it makes even more sense to move forward now.
This is where the clinic will be located.
— Andrew Cluley is the Ann Arbor beat reporter, and anchor for 89.1 WEMU News. Contact him at 734.487.3363 or email him acluley@emich.edu.
