Come this summer, Dr. Don Kines’ dental office will have a new home. The new location will be near Preston-Taylor’s Mountaintop Health Center on Cortland Acres campus in Thomas.
The state-of-the-art dental clinic is under construction. When completed, it will enhance dental care services for residents in Tucker County and the surrounding region, said Linda Shriver, Preston-Taylor Community Health Center’s CEO.
“We are very excited to have Dr. Kines and his staff join the Preston-Taylor Community Health Center team,” Shriver said noting that the Thomas facility is the organization’s second dental clinic. “The new location will be a great benefit to the community and our existing clients. The addition of the on-site dental care means patients will receive complete medical care at one place.”
Kines is pleased about the move and what it means for his patients. He started working in the town of Davis 30 years ago. He practiced alongside the late Tom Patrick and his wife, Donna. He is thankful for the experience and thrilled about the new opportunity.
“The new office will have new equipment and everything will be modernized, including a new X-ray machine and digitized patient records,” Kines said. “Plus, there will be enough room to expand our services if we want. Currently, we are booked two to three months out. The new space will allow us to consider adding more staff to get people in quicker.”
The new dental clinic will join other medical specialty services offered on Cortland Acres campus, said Administrator Beth Clevenger. In addition to Preston-Taylor’s health center and pharmacy, the campus houses medical offices for visiting orthopedics and podiatry physicians and a general surgeon.
“The addition of the dental clinic co-located with other health care services will bring Cortland Acres closer to offering residents whole-person care in a single location,” Clevenger said. “We have been expanding our relationship with Preston-Taylor Community Health Centers over the years and are excited to be in the position to offer this valuable resource to the community.”
The new dental facility will offer a sliding fee scale for individuals and families who are uninsured or need financial assistance.
“As a federally qualified health center, we do not refuse services based on someone’s ability to pay,” Shriver said. “We really put the patient at the center of what we do and will work with them.”
Kines said the sliding fee schedule will greatly help patients who don’t have dental insurance while accepting the same health care insurances.
“The community has been so good to me,” Kines said. “I’ve been able to work and raise a family. The partnership with Preston-Taylor gives me a chance to provide a better service to my patients and the community.”
Funding for the new dental office building comes from existing health care services and programs, Shriver said.
“We are fortunate to be able to bring in an established dental practice,” Shriver said. “We are a non-profit and committed to serving the Tucker County community. We are reinvesting monies from the pharmacy and health center back into the community by offering them this new service.”
The Cortland Acres campus includes a 94-bed long-term care facility, inpatient and outpatient rehabilitation programs, rental apartments in Pineview, and garden and patio homes in The Pines. For more information about Cortland Acres, call 304-463-4181 or visit www.cortlandacres.org.
Preston-Taylor Community Health Centers Inc. has operated federally qualified health centers in north-central West Virginia since 1976. With six health care clinics, the organization is committed to the well-being of the residents in a four-county service area – Preston, Taylor, Tucker, and Grant counties. For more information, call 304-259-5225 or visit www.ptchc.com.