A large crowd braved the rain on Wednesday afternoon, Aug. 21, to celebrate the brand-new dental hygiene program facility and degree program at the Vail Valley campus of Colorado Mountain College Vail Valley in Edwards. Colorado currently has a shortage of dental hygienists, particularly on the Western Slope.
Colorado Mountain College is the fifth dental hygiene program in the state and the first and only dental hygiene program between the Front Range and Rangely. “This space and this new program will help fill a critical gap in the health care arena within our rural communities,” said Marc Brennan, vice president and campus dean of Colorado Mountain College Vail Valley . “The investment in this clinic and this program demonstrates CMC’s ongoing commitment to addressing workforce needs and designing degrees that provide our graduates with a livable wage.
” Initial discussions about offering a dental hygiene degree at Colorado Mountain College began over six years ago, Brennan said. Laura Jacob, the director of the dental hygiene program, led the crowd through the journey of the program over the last several years. “I don’t get nervous, but I do get emotional,” Jacob said at the start of her speech, as attendees grabbed umbrellas to protect themselves from the incoming rain.
The facility that now houses Colorado Mountain College’s oral health clinic was once a fire bay that housed three fire engines and firefighting equipment. In February 2021, Colorado Mountain College connected with Western Slope professional dental communities via Zoom to see if adding a dental hygiene program at the school was a need. “There is no doubt the community wanted this program,” Jacob said.
Jacob was initially hired as the program’s consultant. Taking a look at the space designated for the clinic, Jacob said she saw it would not fit more than 10 dental operatories. “I opined that the college would never break even.
I received quirky smiles, and quickly learned that the college’s purpose is not to break even, it is to meet the needs of the community,” Jacob said. Jacob also asked that the program provide housing for students, who needed to be on campus four days per week. She was told about the affordable housing project being built right next to the Edwards campus, which completed construction on two out of three buildings last fall.
Jacob now lives there, along with Vanessa Crookshank, an associate professor of dental hygiene, and two of their students. When Jacob was asked to become the program director, “I don’t think I’ve ever said ‘no’ more times in a row,” she said. But with her daughter’s encouragement, she accepted the role.
Students in Colorado Mountain College’s dental hygiene program earn an associate of applied science degree in dental hygiene through six continuous semesters of study. Though the ribbon cutting took place Wednesday, the first cohort of dental hygiene students has been attending classes since the start of the summer term. During her speech, Jacob turned to address the students, who stood in front of the crowd.
“Every day of this journey, I kept my eye on this dream — this dream of you,” she said. “We would not be here if the focus wasn’t on the students. The clinic is glorious, but at the end of the day, it is the students that we serve.
I couldn’t be more proud of you.” Diana Aragon, a student in the first cohort, spoke about what brought her to the program. Aragon said she grew up in Gypsum, attended the Vail Valley Dental Assisting School in Eagle in 2016, and applied and was accepted into the dental hygienist program in Rangely.
While Rangely wasn’t a fit for her, “luckily, we have this program now.” she said. “I chose this location because it’s in an ideal location we call home, it’s beautiful and I can be close to my family.
” Brad Guyton, chief dental officer of Delta Dental, which represents roughly half of the commercially insured patients that receive dental care in Colorado, said the company hears about the “crisis” of the dental hygienist shortage from dentists “all the time.” Aiming to bolster the overall number, and the diversity, of dental hygienists in the state, Delta Dental was one of the Colorado Mountain College program’s funders. “The Colorado Latino population is 22%.
Less than 10% of our hygienists are Black, Hispanic, or Indigenous people,” Guyton said. In March, Colorado Mountain College received $3 million in federal funding for the dental clinic and dental hygiene program. The program has also received support from the Colorado Health Foundation, the Gates Family Foundation, Mountain Family Health Center, Denta Quest, and others.
“I hold that there are four winners out there,” Jacob said. “The students, the college, the partners and the community, which includes access to desperately needed affordable oral health care.”.
