Reflections on Success: Health Center Voices

Kansas

Community Health Center of Southeast Kansas
Pittsburg

Little nine-year-old Michael was carried into the Community Health Center of Southeast Kansas (CHCSEK) dental clinic in Pittsburg, Kansas with a high temperature and an abscessed tooth. He hadn’t eaten solid foods in weeks—the lunch ladies at his elementary school in Coffeyville had fixed him oatmeal to make sure he had nourishment. The school nurse also visited with his disabled grandmother with whom he lived. She had no transportation and there was no dentist in the community that accepted Medicaid. Although the CHCSEK clinic was 77 miles and 90 minutes away, the school nurse called and the staff told her to proceed immediately to the health center. Crying and so very afraid when he arrived, he was bundled into blankets and taken into a quiet corner where the dental assistant held him while the dentist examined him. The problem was obvious and, as staff said later, the amount of pain he must have endured for weeks greatly moved the staff. He was within hours of being admitted to a hospital. After being given a large dose of antibiotics, the tooth was extracted. His relief was instantaneous and while still uncomfortable due to the infection, the look in his eyes said it all.

We continue to provide care for Michael—he had extensive decay throughout his mouth. When staff went to his school a few months later to screen 700 other children, he took the hands of CHCSEK staff, led them into his classroom and announced “These are my friends and they will help you.”