Due to financial losses, three of the six School of Dental Medicine network clinics will be closing, effective July 1.
The Penn Dental Care Center -- located primarily in the Evans Building at 4001 Spruce St. -- started out treating University employees and faculty members. Since its initial beginnings, the clinic has expanded to encompass six locations throughout the Philadelphia area.
"They've operated unfortunately less successfully than originally anticipated," Associate Dean for Finance and Administration Thomas Freitag said.
"We took a hard look at the network, realizing that there had been some losses that occurred and asked the question of 'what should we do?' We looked at the operation and are planning now in the next six months to have the orderly phasing out of those three offices."
Working in the network offices alongside faculty, third- and fourth-year student residents -- along with their patients -- will now be moved elsewhere in the Penn Dental network to complete their residencies.
Patients, including University employees, faculty and private patients, are now left with a difficult decision to make.
"Their options are to go to another satellite," Dental School Dean Marjorie Jeffcoat said. "If they're seeing a student, they may want to go with their student. Many patients really like their students and will want to follow them. And they obviously always have the option of going to another dentist, but we hope they'll stay with us."
Next year's residents will then have to be moved and rearranged. "We have the facilities to accommodate them within the on-site clinic and remaining network offices," Freitag said. "Changing of schedules will be necessary."
"For this year, students will have the option of coming back to the school or staying in the remaining networks," Jeffcoat said. "We're talking with each one individually about the specifics of their options and how they will be affected."
Students found out about the closing of the network's clinics in an e-mail sent out over winter break.
"I was shocked," fourth-year Dental student Alika Crew said. "I'd heard rumors about it, but it was like, 'effective June 30 these clinics will be gone.' It felt kind of out of the blue. I think that people in the main clinic, where I am, don't really have a huge opinion of it. I think it's more going to affect people who are actually in those clinics now, especially third-year students who are going to be moved to the main clinic or another satellite."
One of such students is Elliot Singer, a third-year Dental School student who has spent this year working in the Curtis Center, one of the clinics that will be closing.
"It's a challenge we're facing right now," Singer said. "We don't know exactly what's going to happen, and it's a shame because where I work at the Curtis Center, from my first day, everyone made me feel part of the family. I'm really concerned not only for me, but for the rest of the faculty and staff [who] work there."
With the closing of the clinics, the three remaining network clinics will serve as an honors program for residents.
"Going forward, the networks will be used as an honors program for the students," Jeffcoat said.
"Those students who work the best will be the students who can most benefit from the office-like atmosphere of the network clinics," Jeffcoat added. "Whereas before we've been placing students randomly. We're going to do it based on what's best for the students."
