Geisinger Health Plan’s dental health team stands in front of the mobile unit. From left, Rachel Chesney and Cortney Young, public health dental hygiene practitioners; and dentists Kristen Schintz and Michael Halupa, medical directors of dental medicine.
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Geisinger Health Plan’s dental health team stands in front of the mobile unit. From left, Rachel Chesney and Cortney Young, public health dental hygiene practitioners; and dentists Kristen Schintz and Michael Halupa, medical directors of dental medicine.

Submitted

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DANVILLE — Geisinger announced its Health Foundation received a $35,000 grant that will be split, with $10,000 supporting the Mobile Dental Health Unit and the other $25,000 paying for LanguageLine InSight Video Interpreting translation devices.

The money comes from the First Federal Charitable Foundation, a Hazleton-based organization that works to support community causes by nonprofits in Luzerne, Schuylkill, Carbon and Columbia Counties.

The 38-foot-long mobile lab lets a dental health team visit schools, community centers and pediatrician offices “to administer dental exams, X-rays, cleanings, fluoride treatments and sealants, as well as provide home oral hygiene care education and instruction, and nutritional counseling” at no cost to patients or location visited, according to media release.

The interpreting service connects people with remote interpreters via tablets, smartphones or laptops allowing “limited-English speakers, as well as the Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing, to feel heard and seen by another person,” the release said.

“A patient can interact with the digital interpreter, and the dental team will better understand the patient. The device can translate 41 different languages, including American and British Sign Language,” according to the release.

“Thanks to the First Federal Charitable Foundation and these new translation devices, our team will have a better understanding of the needs and concerns of the patients we see on the mobile unit,” Michael Halupa said in the release. Halupa is medical director of dental services at Geisinger Health Plan. “This enables us to provide exceptional care to everyone, regardless of their language, culture or ability to communicate.”

Reach Mark Guydish at 570-991-6112 or on Twitter @TLMarkGuydish