Bluefield College in Bluefield, VA, hopes to be the answer to the shortage of dentists in Appalachia with the opening of its new dental school, projected for the fall of 2015, the Bluefield Daily Telegraph reported.
Collaboration between Bluefield College, the Tazewell County Board of Supervisors, and the Tazewell County Industrial Development Authority is guiding the effort.
A goal of the program is to have students in their third and fourth year of dental school serve at rural clinics in Central Appalachia, the article noted. Organizers also hope to bolster the local economy in Tazewell County. The school would be build at an industrial site purchased in 2004.
The funding stage received its first grant from the Hugh I. Shott Jr. Foundation, which has also aided the organizers in obtaining millions in grants. Tazewell Administrator Jim Spencer noted that, to date, 77% of the money spent has come from grants.
