The University of Pittsburgh School of Dental Medicine announced on Nov. 9 that it has received $9,428,042 in Rural Health Transformation Plan funding from the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania to support its Regional Training Center initiative, which trains oral health care providers in rural communities where access to dental care is limited.
Federal fiscal year 2025-26 funding will be shared with training center partners in Bradford, Titusville and Johnstown. The Pitt regional campuses at Bradford and Titusville will receive funding for the equipment for simulation labs on each of the campuses. The centers’ partners, Universal Primary Care in Bradford, Titusville Area Hospital and Hyndman Area Health Center in Johnstown each receive a portion of the funding for dental equipment and equipment for radiology, digital dentistry and sterilization and to renovate their facilities to support the training programs. A portion of the funding will stay with Pitt Dental Medicine to support salaries and administrative costs of operating the educational programs.
“This funding is an investment in rural communities, in our alumni who need our support and in the auxiliary workforce that will expand access to care. We have an obligation to address access-to-care challenges across our communities, and I am committed to showing our students that through our actions,” said Marnie Oakley, dean of Pitt Dental Medicine.
“Oral health and consistent access to regular dental care are essential to our overall physical and mental wellbeing, but for too many Pennsylvanians, this care is geographically or financially out of reach,” said Pennsylvania Human Services Secretary Val Arkoosh. “Pitt Dental Medicine’s investment in rural Pennsylvania will bring essential dental care to rural communities and develop a workforce pipeline that will benefit these communities for years to come. The Shapiro administration is proud to support this investment in health equity and access to care for residents of the Bradford, Titusville and Johnstown communities.”
A Model Built for Rural Communities
Pitt Dental Medicine’s Regional Training Centers are built on a simple belief: No one in rural Pennsylvania should have to drive an hour or wait years for dental care. Each center places education and patient care in the community, training providers where they are most needed.
“The Regional Training Centers are an innovative approach to helping solve the oral health crisis in rural communities. By training dentists, dental hygienists and dental assistants in the communities that need them most, we expand access to care today and build a workforce that will stay and serve tomorrow,” said James V. Earle, vice dean for business, operations and strategy, Pitt Dental Medicine.
Growing Across the Region
The first Regional Training Centers are already operating in Bradford, in partnership with Universal Primary Care, Olean General Hospital and Pitt-Bradford, and in Titusville, in partnership with Titusville Area Hospital and the University of Pittsburgh’s Education and Training Center at Pitt-Titusville. Together they currently enroll five general practice residents, five dental hygiene students and three dental assistants.
Since opening in July, the centers have served a combined 1,147 patients.
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