Kuthy and McKernan Receive Federal Health Resources and Services Grant

The Federal Health Resources and Services Administration recently awarded the University of Iowa a three-year grant ($1,364,993), with a start date of September 1, 2013. Ray Kuthy (Project Director) and Susan McKernan (Co-Director) are the primary Public Policy Center staff involved in this grant for the Coordinating and Improving Oral Health Workforce Activities in Iowa project.

The goal of this project is to improve statewide efforts to recruit and retain dental providers to underserved communities through increased collaboration among state stakeholders, supported by data-based workforce evaluation and assessment. Led by experienced faculty at the University of Iowa, this project will build on existing state workforce activities with increased collaborative efforts between partners at the University of Iowa College of Dentistry, the Iowa Department of Public Health’s Bureau of Oral and Health Delivery Systems, the Office of Iowa Practice Opportunities, and the Iowa Primary Care Association.

The four objectives of this project are to:
1. Develop activities of the Office of Iowa Practice Opportunities (OIPO), located within the University of Iowa College of Dentistry, that foster collaboration with state stakeholders in order to facilitate the goal of dentist recruitment in dental shortage areas in Iowa.
2. Expand the State Loan Repayment Program (SLRP) and facilitate other state dental recruitment and retention programs, including efforts by the OIPO.
3. Improve state workforce monitoring of dental providers, including longitudinal trends and geographic relationships with other primary health care providers.
4. Define dental market areas in Iowa based on patient utilization patterns and identify geographic barriers to care.

The steps used to achieve these objectives will be carried out at the University of Iowa College of Dentistry, Public Policy Center, and Office of Iowa Practice Opportunities; and at the Iowa Bureau of Health and Delivery Systems. Proposed activities include fostering recruitment and retention to dental shortage areas, hiring a state employee who will manage a state loan repayment program, coordinating efforts between several existing recruitment and retention programs, and conducting outreach to dental students, local communities, and other oral health stakeholders.