Cavity Filled

[April 2nd, 2008]

A proposal by Oregon Health & Science University to close a unique dental clinic for low-income Portlanders and HIV-positive Oregonians has been put on hold as OHSU administrators search for new funding.

After the Oregon Supreme Court decided Dec. 28 that injured patients could seek unlimited liability claims against the public institution, OHSU announced it would have to shave costs. Until that court ruling, OHSU had been protected by a $200,000 liability cap.

And OHSU said the immediate effect of the ruling would be to drive up its insurance rates, costing an estimated $30 million each year and leading its officials to start outlining cuts in its annual $1.4 billion budget.

Russell Street Dental Clinic, a 33-year-old North Portland institution affiliated with OHSU’s dental school, was one of several programs whose existence was then threatened (see “Clinical Trial,” WW, Feb. 6, 2008).

But considerable public outcry and a debate about just how much the dental clinic actually cost OHSU led to renewed debate at the university about the clinic’s fate. OHSU officials have now decided to work to keep the clinic but may scale back its staff and services. That may mean limiting options for low-income patients who aren’t afflicted with HIV.

Leading up to the decision, clinic advocates argued HIV-positive patients—whose immune systems can be fatally compromised by oral infections stemming from inadequate dental care—depended on Russell Street. There are no equivalent clinics in the Pacific Northwest.

They also said Russell Street lost less than $100,000 a year, not $600,000, as OHSU officials claimed. Meanwhile, the clinic served a total of 4,000 patients in 2007.

“For the time being, it remains open,” says OHSU spokesman Jim Newman. He adds that the university is actively seeking new grants to keep it open.

“I’m delighted,” says David Rosenstein, the clinic’s retired founder. “Had Russell Street closed, people who are HIV-positive would have been left high and dry.”