| University of Florida Foundation, Inc. | |
| Christopher Brazda | 352-392-1633 |
| Public Relations | 100 NW 20th St |
| cbrazda@uff.ufl.edu | Gainesville, FL 32603 |
| For immediate release | Wednesday, December 13, 2006 |
Naples charity donates millions to fund UF children’s dental clinic
GAINESVILLE, Fla.—Thousands of disadvantaged children will soon benefit from a $5.5 million gift to the University of Florida College of Dentistry that will fund the construction and operation of a state-of-the-art pediatric dental facility in Collier County.
The gift was announced today (Dec. 13) by trustees for the Naples Children & Education Foundation, the founder of the hugely successful Naples Winter Wine Festival. The exclusive event, featuring international celebrity chefs and prestigious vintners, has raised nearly $40 million for local children’s charities since its inception in 2000 and is billed as the “most successful charity wine event in the world.”
Of the foundation’s gift to the UF College of Dentistry, $4 million is eligible for state match through the Alec P. Courtelis Facilities Enhancement Challenge Grant Program and will fund the construction and equipping of the UF dental facility on the Collier County campus of Edison College. The remaining $1.5 million will cover the dental program’s start-up operational expenses.
The planned $8 million building, modeled after the UF dental clinic on the Seminole campus of St. Petersburg College in Pinellas County, will be a two-story, 20,000-square-foot dental clinic and education facility. The UF dental program at Edison College is expected to open in the fall of 2008 and eventually will expand to provide specialized pediatric dental treatment to Collier County’s Medicaid-eligible and at-risk children during an estimated 15,000 patient visits each year. It also will serve as a new home for the Ronald McDonald Care Mobile, also funded through the foundation, which provides critical medical and dental outreach services to Collier County children.
The project represents an innovative collaboration between the philanthropic Naples Children & Education Foundation, UF, Edison College and Collier Health Services Inc., or CHSI.
Edison College district board of trustees approved a long-term land lease agreement with UF to give the facility an academic home. While the first floor of the two-story building will be dedicated to UF’s clinical operations, Edison College will share use of second floor classrooms and laboratory space.
CHSI, which has long been a UF partner in extending dental services to Collier County residents through its community health centers, will manage the clinic’s billing and collection activities and supply procurement. Additionally, CHSI community health clinics and its Ronald McDonald Care Mobile will refer patients to the dental clinic.
The dental facility at the Edison site will be the UF College of Dentistry’s newest clinic in its Statewide Network for Community Oral Health. The network comprises UF’s Gainesville and community-based clinics in Hialeah, St. Petersburg and Jacksonville as well as 14 county health department, community health center and private not-for-profit partner clinics statewide.
This strategy of community partnerships focusing on vulnerable, indigent and special needs populations has led to the UF College of Dentistry becoming one of the largest providers of low-cost dental care in Florida.
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