JAMES WOOD
Staff Writer
Fredia Lusk, Director of the Community Clinic
The Community Clinic of Shelbyville and Bedford County (CCSBC), headed by former educator Fredia Flack Lusk, has shown that a community and county supported health clinic can work and thrive in a rural Tennessee county.
Located at 200 Dover St since 2003, the CCSBC has a unique model supported by the county, schools, various organizations, donations and more, allowing it to serve hundreds of children, low-income, and other people in need.
The dental clinic started as a mobile tractor-trailer clinic in 2019 offering services to residents. Since then, the program has grown and evolved to now occupy a portion of the Bedford County Business Complex, serving hundreds of people each year.
After being temporarily shut down throughout the height of COVID-19 in 2020, the clinic returned to operations in October of the same year. Between then and the summer of 2021, $250,000 was raised to help.
The Meharry School of Dentistry began consistently sending students on a bi-monthly basis to complete their clinicals with hands-on learning with patients at the clinic.
“We wouldn’t have a clinic if it were not for Meharry,” Lusk said.
The Smile 180 Foundation, an organization owned by Delta Dental that provides assistance to dental colleges and community clinics across the state, has also contributed to the clinic by providing all the dental equipment in the facility, including chairs, x-ray machines, and more.
Inside the clinic, $25,000 worth of renovations were needed to expand into the additional unoccupied rooms on the second floor of the Business Complex, with all-new walls, plumbing and electrical.
Among the services currently offered by the dental clinic are examinations, cleanings, extractions, fillings, x-rays, dentures and more.
“We want to bring healthy smiles to the community,” said Lusk.
Children under 18 are also served at no cost, with adults being served for significantly lower costs than other dental clinics, offering a viable place for those in need to receive dental care.
“We also take TennCare, so a lot of our patients don’t have to pay,” Lusk explained.
The clinic also serves an important role in providing a route for outgoing inmates from the Bedford County Jail to re-enter society, many of which suffering from severe tooth decay. Dentures and partials are offered to inmates for free, often changing the way others view them and the way they view themselves.
“Those who had previous addiction problems and tooth erosion need new dentures,” said Lusk. “It changes people’s lives when they get new teeth.”
The clinic has grown from one employee to five in the last few years, keeping the facility active and allowing more patients to be seen with shorter wait times. Experienced dentists now serve patients each week, offering services to those who can’t afford help from a typical dentist’s office.
Other medical services are also offered for low to no cost, including preventative care, lung screenings, pap smears, prescription assistance, medical examinations and more.
The CCSBC hosts an annual Gala at the Humble Baron on Hwy. 231, with this year’s event happening on April 11th to celebrate Meharry School of Dentistry’s 140th year of teaching students.
