UF to close Jacksonville dental clinic that serves uninsured

[thelakelander]

By Jeremy Cox

This is a tale of two buildings.

One is a crumbling husk not worth the $500,000 in upgrades and repairs it would need to stay in service. The other is a state-of-the-art dental clinic that could use a fresh coat of paint but little else.
The two buildings, as it happens, are one in the same: The University of Florida College of Dentistry Jacksonville Clinic.

The 23-year-old clinic is scheduled to close in mid-June, leaving thousands of patients, most of them uninsured, with no clear alternative for dental care in Northeast Florida.
A top official at UF's dentistry school attributes the closure, in part, to the deteriorating condition of the clinic building.

"It breaks our heart," said Micaela Gibbs, director of community-based programs for the UF dentistry program in Gainesville. "We did everything in our power to keep this from happening," including appealing to state lawmakers and private businesses for help.

The decision has opened a rift between the Gainesville dentistry school and its much smaller Jacksonville affiliate.

Cliff Starr, director of the Jacksonville branch, said the brick building at 2028 Boulevard , near Shands Jacksonville, is "completely functional the way it is. Most of the improvements that are needed are cosmetic."

full article: http://jacksonville.com/news/health-and-fitness/2010-03-30/story/uf-close-jacksonville-dental-clinic-serves-uninsured