PAGD Keystone Explorer Winter 2019 20

the American Dental Hygiene Association look to make changes to the way that dental care is provided in our state and country. Much of the focus seems to be on expanding the dental workforce with nontraditional new positions to increase access to care for underserved populations. While always well-meaning, some of these efforts are misdirected in that simply increasing the sheer numbers of dental care workforce providers may not be able to rectify the access to care issue. There is still the challenge of getting dentists to practice in the health care provider shortage areas since most of these expanded function positions still require direct supervision by a dentist. In addition, the access to care issue will always involve provision of dental care through the Medicaid system, which also requires participation by general dentists and will not be significantly improved just by adding more non-dentists. Instead of looking to expand the number of positions and people in the dental care workforce, we must make sure that those positions already in place receive quality education and are used efficiently, and that we somehow find a way to get dentists to practice in those areas most in need of access to dental care. In recognition of the need for our organization to be involved in advocacy efforts in Harrisburg, the PAGD Board of Directors has approved a budget that allows us to hire a full-time lobbying firm. This will ensure that we are well informed of the issues affecting us and that our ideas and concerns are made known and taken into account by those who can make the decisions that will affect our profession, the dental care workforce in general, and the overall dental health of the people of Pennsylvania. So stay tuned for future information and alerts as to what is going on that could affect our profession and our organization. But we need your help. When you are asked to be involved in our advocacy efforts, please take action and write a letter, make a phone call, attend a meeting, do whatever it takes. Because there is strength in numbers, and only when our members get involved can we be truly successful as an organization. I hope to see everyone at Bedford Springs in April for another great PAGD Annual Meeting and another session of great continuing education programs. You know that Rick and Joey will be setting up something great for us once again. Have a great day. Keystone Explorer |  Winter 2019–20  3

RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy Nzc3ODM=