WHEREAS, NorthPoint Health and Wellness Center operates a dental clinic and seeks to integrate and expand dental care for residents in north Minneapolis by expanding dental services at 800 W. Broadway; and

WHEREAS, Delta Dental of Minnesota Foundation has a mission to increase quality dental care access by providing funding to support and establish clinics that serve Minnesotans who may not otherwise be able to access care.

BE IT RESOLVED, that Agreement A188876 with the Delta Dental of Minnesota Foundation to provide funding for Integrated Oral Health Expansion, for the period January 1, 2018 through December 31, 2019, in the receivable amount of $600,000 be approved; and that the new dental clinic at 800 W. Broadway is named in honor of Dr. John Williams; and that the Chair of the Board be authorized to sign the Agreement on behalf of the county; and that the Controller be authorized to disburse funds as directed.

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that sponsorship and acceptance of grant funding for this program by the Hennepin County Board of Commissioners does not imply a continued funding commitment by Hennepin County for this program when grant funds are no longer available.

NorthPoint Health & Wellness Center is a federally qualified health center in partnership with Hennepin County.  The Center has been serving North Minneapolis for 50 years with health and social services to populations that experience the highest rates of health and socioeconomic disparities in the county.  To meet the needs of the community, NorthPoint has developed and implemented a model of integrated trauma informed care with a main campus providing access to a comprehensive range of health and social services and a network of neighborhood sites that serve as “connectors” to reach special populations. 

The integrated care approach uses client-focused, multi-disciplinary teams to provide health care and social services seamlessly, and has already demonstrated increases in productivity, efficiency, patient satisfaction, improved health outcomes as well as increased revenues and decreased costs. NorthPoint was recognized in 2015 by the federal Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) for national achievement in two areas:

1. Health Center Quality Leader: for health centers among the top 30 percent nationally of all health centers for best overall clinical outcomes; and
2. Clinical Quality Improver: for health centers that demonstrated at least a 10 percent improvement in clinical quality measures

According to Capital Link (a nonprofit organization that provides technical expertise on capital projects for community health centers), NorthPoint’s operations saves the health care system over $30 million and generates a total economic impact of over $53 million annually.

Access to quality and affordable dental care is extremely difficult for low income communities that are either on medical assistance or uninsured. The inability to meet the demand for primary oral health care can lead to delay in treatment, higher utilization of emergency rooms, poor academic school performance for children and higher health care costs. 

• NorthPoint’s clinic visits increased by 68% between 2006-2016 and 25% between 2010-2016
• In 2016, NorthPoint’s call center reported 1,212 new patients called to schedule dental appointments that could not get an appointment
• A 2010 report by the PEW Charitable Trust: The Cost of Delay, reported that the delay in dental care in children results in lost school time, learning challenges, impaired nutrition and health.

The American Dental Association reported in April 2015 that dental visits doubled from 2000-2010 and largely due to increases in emergency room dental visits. They estimated that up to 79% of dental ED visits could be treated in community dental settings. In 2012, ED dental visits cost the health care system $1.6 billion. NorthPoint believes that health inequalities will continue to exist without significant investments in innovative interventions that respect and honor community and culture in health care delivery.

Our goal is to expand the capacity, services and integration of oral health at NorthPoint Health and Wellness Center Campus to achieve optimal health outcomes for the people we serve and the North Minneapolis Community. To do so, NorthPoint will:

• Open new community satellite dental clinic at 800 West Broadway location as an integrated model with medical, behavioral health and human services utilizing the SAMHSA Standard Levels of Integration Framework.  The new location will  provide an additional 2,300 dental visits per year.  
• Identify best practices in care delivery and document patient progress in an integrated care environment.

This board action request aligns with Hennepin County disparity reduction efforts by deploying place based neighborhood health strategies for areas of concentrated poverty.