UBC Dentistry Provides Vulnerable Women and Children in British Columbia With Dental Care at New Health Center

Faculty and students at the University of British Columbia (UBC) Faculty of Dentistry are supporting vulnerable women and children in British Columbia by providing dental care in the new Elizabeth Fry (EFry) Health Center. The Center—which opened its doors in Surrey, BC, in January 2023—offers one-stop access to holistic, gender-sensitive, trauma-informed and culturally safe health care.  

The Center’s first floor includes a 5,800-square-foot dental clinic, which UBC students are now rotating through, receiving educational instruction and providing restorative, preventive and emergency oral health services to EFry clients.

“This new UBC dental clinic, in partnership with the EFry Health Center, exemplifies the Faculty’s strategic plan across our four core areas: people, research, education and engagement,” said Mary MacDougall, Ph.D., Dean of UBC Dentistry.

Several generous donations made the creation of this clinical space and the integration of UBC faculty and students possible. UBC faculty Ed Yen, D.D.S., Dip.Ortho., Ph.D., and Leeann Donnelly, Ph.D., M.S., received a $200,000 UBC Academic Excellence Award in 2016 that the Faculty of Dentistry augmented, and alumni partner Sinclair Dental provided a generous gift-in-kind of over $61,000 for the setup of the three operatories in the dental clinic. Most recently, GreenShield, a not-for-profit social enterprise, provided funding as part of their commitment to supporting underserved Canadians with access to oral health services. The grant enabled the hiring and training of community members and dental staff to ensure dental services are fully integrated within the Center and the communities.

“With a focus on team-based, wrap-around service, the EFry Health Center will allow our faculty and students the unique opportunity to experience medical and dental integration, and our research faculty to evaluate the impact on overall health and wellbeing,” said Dr. Donnelly, UBC Dentistry Associate Professor and Director of Community Engagement.

EFry offers permanent long-term housing and emergency homeless shelter beds, and their programming supports 3,300 at-risk women, girls and children.

“Incorporating dental care into the EFry Health Center was key to achieving our goal of offering marginalized women and families access to one-door, whole-person care,” says Shawn Bayes, CEO of EFry. “UBC Dentistry has a long history of supporting our clients with dental care they otherwise could not access, and we hope this program will be beneficial to everyone involved.”

For the past 10 years, EFry and UBC Dentistry have partnered to provide preventive oral health services to women and children at risk, recognizing that accessing affordable services in a safe environment can build stable lives and healthy futures. The new facility providing comprehensive dental care in collaboration with other health and social care professionals will only increase the partnership’s impact.

Courtesy of The University of British Columbia Faculty of Dentistry

Published on April 12, 2023