Aspen Dental now serving patients

Aspen Dental opened its 10th facility in Minnesota this year with the opening Nov. 12 of a clinic in Hutchinson at 964 State Highway 15 S. under lead dentist Dr. Boyee Barwu. Owner of the practice is Dr. Jerome Austriaco.

Aspen Dental, which has more than 500 locations across 33 states, prides itself on delivering affordable dental care to an underserved segment of the population, said Ron Gornick, director of operations for Aspen Dental.

Clinics are privately owned by dentists with Aspen providing support services to the owner dentists at clinics, which are typically in rural regional centers such as Hutchinson.

“We look at ourselves as serving the underserved, including those who haven’t seen dentists in years,” Gornick said this past week during a visit to the new Hutchinson clinic. “Our patients are often those age 40 to 65. We want to help them get back to dental health.”

The Hutchinson area was selected because Aspen found McLeod County to be one of 71 in Minnesota designated as dental health professional shortage areas by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. That typically means a segment of the local population doesn’t have access to affordable dental care.

“There may be a lot of dentists here, but they may not be serving all the patients,” Gornick said. “We just feel there are not great opportunities here for affordable dentistry.”

Aspen, he added, is committed to keeping prices low, as well as offering special promotions, senior discounts and free new-patient exams and X-rays for patients without dental insurance. Aspen works with all insurance providers and handles the paperwork, saving patients time and hassle, he added. Payment options are available, too.

The company attempts to keep costs down and provide faster service by having its own on-site lab for full and partial dentures. In addition to the lab, Aspen’s network in Minnesota has oral surgeons and other specialists available to local patients.

THE DENTIST

Barwu, who moved to the U.S. 12 years ago from his native Liberia, completed his undergraduate and graduate work at the University of Minnesota, graduating this past May. He and his wife and two children live in Eden Prairie.

“But we are looking forward to moving to Hutchinson,” he said Monday.

Barwu said he became part of the Aspen family because he liked the company’s ethics and focus on helping people.

“I wanted to be part of that team,” he said. “We make dentistry affordable and remove barriers to good care by having low costs as much as possible, and make dentistry accessible. We are trying to work hard to make sure we meet the needs of our patients.”

That includes having hours geared to meet various patient schedules. Aspen is open 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday, Wednesday and Thursday, 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Tuesday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Friday, and one Saturday each month.

Gornick said Aspen Dental also has a positive economic impact on communities it operates in. He cited a 2013 study by Syracuse University that each new Aspen Dental practice contributes more than $1.3 million in positive economic impact through job creations and capital investment.

Source: http://www.crowrivermedia.com/big_fish_lifestyle/health/aspen-dental-now-serving-patients/article_c095aad2-5139-5eed-af26-c5713ceafd48.html

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