At the VDA’s Lobby Day breakfast in January, House Speaker Don Scott spoke on the importance of addressing rural dental healthcare needs. He established a House Select Committee on Advancing Rural and Small Town Health Care, which met throughout the year to develop legislative recommendations to present for consideration to the General Assembly. 

The committee heard testimony over the summer from VDA members Dr. Roger Palmer and Dr. Laura Settles. Dr. Palmer, who practices in Emporia, and Dr. Settles, who practices in Wytheville, spoke and answered questions from legislators on issues including workforce challenges, CODA requirements, patient transportation, Medicaid, student debt, and referring patients in rural areas to specialists.

The committee has been Chaired by Delegate Rodney Willet (D-Henrico), who in presenting the recommendations to Speaker Scott, said, “As you noted in your letter creating the committee, rural hospitals have been closing at an alarming rate. We also have seen that the statewide shortage of health workers is particularly acute in rural areas. And even where rural residents have a health care provider available, many people lack transportation to doctors' appointments and dental check-ups. The latter challenge is particularly concerning because pregnant women and their babies in rural areas face higher mortality rates when mothers cannot get to prenatal and postpartum appointments.”

The committee made four recommendations specific to dental care, including 

• additional funding for the Virginia Community College System’s oral health programs to increase student capacity
• including oral health care in state-supported school-based (K- 12) healthcare programs
• funding, promoting, and evaluating scholarship and loan repayment programs for dental and dental hygiene professionals in rural areas
• expanding dental residency programs that partner with rural safety net clinics

VIEW FULL RECOMMENDATIONS

For the next steps, Delegate Willet noted in his introductory letter that “the committee’s work is done only to the extent that we are providing the requested recommendations. We and the entire legislature have much work to do to implement the recommendations in coming legislative sessions, and we need to continue focusing on rural health care's challenges.”