Scripps Clinic has been known to offer free emergency dental care to those in need since the 1960s.
However, in the past few years the hospital has faced a number of major hospital closures due to budget cuts and an ageing population.
The latest is the closure of its Emergency Dental Clinic, which is expected to see around 70 people come through the doors.
The closure is part of a major reorganisation of the hospital which is part private and part public.
In 2018, the hospital’s operating budget was cut by almost 30 per cent, with around $2.3 million being spent on a “major refurbishment”.
The new facility will be built on a former industrial site.
The first stage of the refurbishment is expected in the coming months and will include the opening of a new dental clinic.
“We are moving into a new phase of operation,” said ScrippSClinic Executive Director, Dr Jody Kincaid.
“The first stage is the building of a dental clinic at the hospital.
That will allow us to increase our capacity and capacity to care for our patients in a way that is not only affordable but also accessible to the public.”
Dr Kincare said that the facility will also provide services to emergency patients that are not available in the community.
“There are some services that are no longer available to our patients,” she said.
“So the people who come in for services that they have come in because of a health emergency, and there are a number, the facility can do that, but not every one of them.”
Scripp SClinic has had to turn away more than 1,000 patients this year, with many of those patients having health conditions.
However the hospital said it was able to accommodate the patients because it had built a new facility in the building next door.
Scripp’s new dental clinics will provide free dental care for those in urgent need.
“When you come to Scripp it’s a very private place, it’s not public, it doesn’t have a lot of public access,” said Dr Kinsley.
“It’s a place that is a part of the community and it has a very small population.”
Scrips patients may be able to make an appointment to see a dentist in the clinic, but it’s important to ensure that they can afford it.
“I don’t know if it’s possible for Scripp to make a dent in that number of people that they’ve seen come in,” Dr Kindley said.
She said the hospital is looking at other ways to address its ageing population, such as offering dental services to children.
“As we get older we’ll see the need for dental care and that’s something that we’ve been looking at, and we will continue to look at that,” she added.
Scripp is not the only local hospital to face a major closure.
The South Australia Hospital and Clinics (SAHCC) closed its emergency dental clinic last year, after an extended period of financial hardship.
This is the first closure of the Emergency Dontology Clinic at South Australia HealthCare since the hospital was set up.
Dr Kineke O’Malley said that although the closure was a sad day for the emergency dental clinics, it was a good example of the importance of having access to dental services.
“These people come in and the dental clinic is a great resource, but when they’re sick or need treatment they’re not able to get dental care at home, so that’s what we try to encourage people to do,” she explained.
Dr O’Mara said that while it was an honour to serve as the emergency director of the South Australian Emergency Dopeful Clinic, she had no idea what could have been done differently.
“A lot of people are just not able or not capable to get their dental care, and that was my concern, so I just thought, what can I do to make this a better clinic for people?”
Dr O ‘Mara added that while she was not a dentist, she would still want to make sure that people with dental problems had access to care.
“Dental health in South Australia is very important,” she noted.
“And there are some dentists that are really great at helping people out, and they can get some good service out of this.”
