Gulf Breeze residents could see free dental clinic
BY FRANKLIN HAYES Gulf Breeze News franklin@gulfbreezenews.com

County Health Department officials were hoping to make free dental care more convenient, only to have their plans mired in red tape. For the meantime, Gulf Breeze children without dental insurance will still have to travel to Milton to get their teeth cleaned. Officials with the Santa Rosa County Health Department were working closely with administrators from United Way of Santa Rosa County to provide residents a temporary dental clinic in Southern Santa Rosa County. United Way administrators wanted to donate one of several trailers they purchased from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to the county health department. However, efforts were cut short due to zoning restrictions.

"The health department cannot use a residential mobile home in a commercial zoning area or application even if it is temporary in nature," local United Way Administrator Stirling "Bud" Boomhower wrote in an email. "So, it looks like they will have to get a commercial unit or scrap the plans for the clinic because the building wouldn't be built for two to three years."

Health department representatives have requested state and county funding to build a permanent clinic in Gulf Breeze for years and say no funding has become available.

Kathleen DeVore-Jones, Santa Rosa County Health Department Administrator, said her department has worked to get funding for that type of facility since her arrival in April of 2005.

Officials hoped to set up the proposed clinic at 5840 Gulf Breeze Parkway, next to their Gulf Breeze Office, and said it would house at least one dentist. Services were to include free dental exams, X-rays, cleanings, fluoride treatments, sealants, fillings and extractions for kids age 4 through 20 who don't have insurance. Children that qualify for Medicaid or the Headstart Program would also be eligible patients.

Although the health department has offered identical services in Milton for some time, DeVore-Jones says not enough people take advantage of their free accommodations. Out of approximately 10,000 children in Santa Rosa County that are eligible for Medicare, the health department serves less than 2,000, DeVore said.

"Eighty percent of children eligible for Medicaid have no dental care," DeVore added. "There might be a dentist who accepts a patient or two, but they are not permanent providers."

For more information about health department and their services, call them at 850-983- 5200 or visit them online at http://www.doh.state.fl.us/chdS antaRosa/.