Special Report

CARE WITH DIGNITY

One Smile from page 15

Left: Drs. Mickey Zuroff and Roy Rosen hang the clinic's mezuzah. Right: Hygenist Yelena Rozin with a patient.

address the uninsured and assess need','
Yoskowitz said.
Dr. Mark Luria of West Bloomfield,
then-president of the Detroit Alumni
Chapter of Alpha Omega International
Dental Fraternity, contacted members and
asked them to become Project Chessed
volunteers. About 60 signed on.

Change Of Plan
"By 2008, it was clear that having patients
go to the offices of the volunteer dentists
was not working like it was with the medi-
cal part of the project, with medical care
provided in the offices of the volunteer
doctors:' said Zuroff, an Alpha Omega
member seeing Project Chessed clients in
his own private practice.
Yoskowitz said, "There were 60 dentists
volunteering to treat Chessed clients and
hundreds of Chessed clients in need of
dental care; not just routine cleanings, but
treatment for dental problems, like bridges
or root canals.
"We met with the dentists of Alpha
Omega (AO) to discuss finding a more
effective and efficient way of meeting
the dental needs of the Chessed clients:'
Yoskowitz said.
The dentists and Project Chessed came
to an easy agreement. "I wanted the clinic
to be privately run rather than part of the
Project Chessed arm to keep it simplified:'
Zuroff said. "They said OK as long as they
could be our referral source. So we took
the dental program off their hands."
Attorney Michael Eizelman of Oak Park
donated legal services in filing paper-
work to form the clinic, which became a
Michigan nonprofit, incorporated as an
independent 501(c)(3) organization oper-
ating as a project of Alpha Omega.
"As an independent organization, it can

16 October 7 • 2010

schedule and arrange all needed follow-
ups for the patients there," Yoskowitz said.
"It is a mission-driven, focused, one-stop
location for dental care'

A Pilot Project
To ensure the idea for a freestanding clinic
for adult patients was feasible, a pilot proj-
ect was conducted, with $30,000 raised by
two anonymous community members. It
began in February 2009 in Dr. Roy Rosen's
Southfield dental office, in space now
leased for the clinic.
Volunteer dentists and hygienists spent
several months screening 100 patients
referred by Project Chessed. "Then we
evaluated how many volunteers, days and
materials we would need:' Zuroff said.
In August 2009, the clinic was opened to
patients outside the pilot project.
"In planning for the clinic, we looked
at role models in other cities and at com-
munity free dental clinics," said Dr. Margo
Woll of West Bloomfield, who first volun-
teered with Project Chessed and has been
part of the dental clinic since the start.
The clinic opened with 60 volunteer
dentists. "Practically all of them were AO
members who had been part of Project
Chessed," Luria said.
"The clinic was immediately a resound-
ing success:' Zuroff said. "We are now the
source for all of Project Chessed's dental
patients." Project Chessed does eligibility
screening for its clients before they are
referred to the clinic.
"Anyone in Project Chessed who is
medically uninsured and has dental needs
is given the phone number of the clinic:'
Yoskowitz said. "People who already had
a relationship with one the dentists who
volunteered at Project Chessed continued
to see them there."

The clinic also is open to Jewish patients
who are not part of Project Chessed, but
who have no dental insurance. "That
includes many members of the Orthodox
community whose shul rabbi may call us
on their behalf' Zuroff said.
"For non-Project Chessed clients, we
have a private screening process that
is done elsewhere by an independent
screener," he said. "Our criteria is the same
as the guidelines followed by Yad Ezra [the
Berkley-based kosher food pantry]. To
qualify for Project Chessed, patients must
have no medical insurance. Our screening
does not make that a limiting factor.
"And we will direct patients that are
not candidates for our clinic for various
reasons — including that they may not be
Jewish — to other clinics."

A Single Site
The Jewish Dental Clinic is spearheaded
by Zuroff, who maintains it follows "a
team approach."
An advisory board of dentists who
have been with the clinic since its incep-
tion includes Luria, Rosen, Woll and
Zuroff, along with Drs. Bruce Gursky of
Bloomfield Hills, Michael Shapiro and
Martha Zinderman, both of Farmington
Hills, and Bob Share and Jeff Weinfeld,
both of West Bloomfield.
The volunteer dental professionals
rotate their schedules to keep the clinic
running 2 1/2-3 days each week.
"The clinic is in the same building as
my office, but it has a separate entrance
and is in a different suite with a separate
waiting room dedicated to the clinic
patients' use," said Rosen of Farmington
Hills, who shares equipment from his pri-
vate office with the clinic.
Some of the clinic's supplies and materi-

als have been donated by dental manufac-
turers and supply representatives.
"These are people who are going to get
on their feet sooner or later;' Rosen said.
"We want them to have a normal visit. We
don't want them to feel like we are squeez-
ing them in and doing them a favor. Their
self-esteem is very important. Just because
there is no money involved, this is still a
regular dental office and it is run that way."
For patients, there is an advantage to a
single, centrally located clinic.
"Logistically, having all patients seen
in one place makes a lot of sense Rosen
said. "Ninety percent of dentistry is gen-
eral practice, so most patients can be seen
in the same place, with the same equip-
ment. It's not like medical care where
more patients may need to be referred to a
specialist."
Dental care professionals benefit also.
"Having our own place rather than hav-
ing patients seen in many offices allows
volunteers to know they are giving a block
of time to these patients:' Zuroff said.
"Some have partners who may not want
to be part of it. In their own offices, they
are 'doing something nice for someone.'
Here they are part of a community project.
And for the patients, there is dignity. They
don't feel like they're getting charity, tak-
ing up someone's time in their office."

Supporting The Clinic
In May, Woll helped the Jewish Dental
Clinic secure a three-year grant from the
Jewish Fund, totaling $271,320, to assist
with start-up operations.
"We suggested they hire someone to
help with fundraising and an organiza-
tional consultant:' said Margo Pernick,
executive director of the Bloomfield
Township-based Jewish Fund, established
with proceeds from the sale of Sinai
Hospital of Detroit in 1997."There is a
growing need for dental care for those
with no insurance and the clinic can fill
a void for those with low income. The
Jewish Fund supports this opportunity
to provide health care for those who can't
afford it."
Zuroff said, "Alpha Omega has been very
generous as well; and sometimes my own
patients hear about the clinic and donate."
The cost of running the clinic is $5,000
a month. "The grant will allow for better
efficiency and expansion:' Zuroff said. "We
have a waiting list of patients."
The hope is for the clinic to increase
its hours to four days each week, which
would also increase the operating budget.
That also would involve a call for more
volunteers.
"Even with the space and the grant,
we can't expand our hours without more

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