Moving Oral Health Forward:
The Coalition Approach
By Helen Hawkey, Executive Director, PA Coalition for Oral Health
HISTORY
Tucked within the November/December 2011 issue of the
Pennsylvania Dental Journal, an obscure article incubated
an idea for Pennsylvania oral health advocates. Within
the article, the concept for a PA Coalition for Oral Health
(PCOH) was introduced as a new entity and advocates
began working their way around the knowledge base
of the state.
With the support of a few dozen initial organizations,
including the Pennsylvania Dental Association, the Fluoride
Now coalition officially reinvented itself in 2013 as the PA
Coalition for Oral Health. With aspirations to improve oral
health awareness, advocacy and policy across the state,
the coalition members joined with strategic planning
partners to launch its efforts into full swing. The team built
the foundation to move forward by recruiting an executive
director and established a formal steering committee.
Quickly, the passionate members of this small dynamic
team began their journey on a path to improve oral health
for all Pennsylvanians through educational and advocacy
initiatives.
Since its early 2013 start, dozens of partners and
hundreds of individuals enlisted their support of PCOH.
Coalition priorities emerged focusing on access to care
issues and workforce innovations, based on needs
and grant opportunities that promised to catalyze oral
health improvements across the Commonwealth. Major
accomplishments in the first three years included:
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Completion of comprehensive Pennsylvania oral
health workforce research
Development of a community water fluoridation
communication, advocacy and response team
Streamlining of the Medicaid credentialing process
for dental providers
Formation of the PA Oral Health Collective Impact
Initiative with funding secured from the DentaQuest
Foundation
Assistance with the preparation of the 2017-2020
State Oral Health Plan
In parallel with these achievements, the coalition’s
Board of Directors continued to build up the coalition’s
infrastructure, culminating in a corporation designation
in 2016. The hard work and dedication of Lisa Schildhorn,
Executive Director from 2013 -2017, proved instrumental
in this period of great progress.
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