Boort District Hospital: Dentistry on your doorstep

Top: Dr Chetan with a patient on oral health care tips. Below: Boort District Health

Dr. Chetan Bhardwaj (Dentist)
Dr. Sajeev Koshy (Director Dental Services)
Ms. Vicki Poxon (CEO)

 

Boort is a small town located approximately 250 kms north-west of Melbourne within the heart of Loddon Shire region. Also known as “The Northern Oasis”, the area is renowned for many of its sporting clubs, lakes and water sports, along with its diverse farming community. Loddon Shire covers an area of approximately 6,700 square kilometres making it the seventh largest municipality (in area) in Victoria.

Boort District Health offers a variety of services to the community including dental, medical, acute care, aged care, physiotherapy, podiatry, and district nursing to name a few. Since the revival of dental services by then CEO Mr Peter Abraham in 2007 and under the able guidance of Dr Sajeev Koshy, the clinic hasn’t looked back and has been progressive in providing quality dental care to its community members.

A dental outreach initiative, called Boort Outreach Model of Care was evolved by the efforts of former CEO Ms Veronica Jamieson in collaboration with Northern District Community Health Service (NDCHS) last September and has continuous strong support of the current CEO, Ms Vicki Poxon. The purpose of the project was to create an awakening in dental health issues, oral health promotion, accessibility to dental care, and importance of early intervention in treatment and prevention of dental diseases within the community. After an initial survey of the region, four different key demographic areas were identified which lacked general dental/medical services.

During this pilot phase of the project, Dr Chetan Bhardwaj conducted free dental examinations and provided dental education in various regions of the community and those clients, ranging from all age groups (more under 18 years) which needed further dental treatment were referred back to Boort for further assessment and treatment. This created a lot of enthusiasm within the community and many of them appreciated our efforts and also came back to the hospital for further dental treatment.

The success and enthusiasm from the community encouraged us to carry this initiative forward into the second phase of the project which we are presently undertaking. This small effort of ours showed us the importance that even a single chair dental practice can be successful and sustainable and can play a pivotal role within the rural community. It also helped us gaining confidence of the local community that dental care can be at their doorsteps and they actually don’t have to travel long distances for basic dental services.

 

“I travelled miles to get my teeth fixed, until I found an Oasis next door” - Boort patient