MPCA News

Helena Community Health Center Welcomes New Dentist

(L-R) Darla Nelson, Dr. Mike Johnson, and Leah Chavez, Cooperative Health Center Dental Clinic staff.

Helena Cooperative Health Center recently recruited a dentist as the result of Bureau of Primary Health Care funding in 2002. Although Cooperative has had an active volunteer dental program for the past several years, the waiting list of over 500 dental patients demonstrates the community’s need for a full-time dentist.

Kate Wilson, Executive Director of Helena Cooperative Health Center, recruited Dr. Mike Johnson, DDS in June 2002. Johnson, who had been in private practice in Billings since 1977, was looking for a change and enjoyed fishing on the Missouri River near Helena. “I saw the ad in the paper and interviewed while on my fishing trip,” he says. “Kate offered me the position and it was a big decision leaving Billings but has worked out well.”

Since Johnson’s arrival, all of the 500 patients on the waiting list have been assigned appointments; Johnson describes the practice as “very busy.” The CHC expanded from two to three chairs in November, and standardized the equipment in each operatory, which has maximized efficiency.

Wilson anticipates 3,240 dental visits at Cooperative in 2003, and says the dental services “are going great. Johnson is a really good dentist and the whole team is doing a good job. We are getting people in who really need dental care.”

Montana Primary Care Association 1805 Euclid Avenue Helena, MT 59601 Phone: (406) 442-2750 Fax: (406) 449-2460