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Operation Smile
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In December of 2000, Apple Tree received a call from Renee Ford, Dental Operations Manager of Catahoula Parish Hospital District #2
Medical Center, located in Sicily Island, Louisiana. She was seeking help in expanding their new dental program to include mobile
dental care, and had heard about Apple Tree’s Hawley Clinic in northwestern Minnesota.
Besides serving the Catahoula Parish, the Medical Center at Sicily Island serves the Concordia, Franklin, and Tensas Parishes in east
central Louisiana. Instead of organizing areas into “counties,” Louisiana is divided into “parishes.” Three of these parishes are
federally designated Dental Health Professional Shortage Areas. In addition to a shortage of dentists, there are a high number of
low-income families in the area. The Catahoula Medical Center was looking for help, and they found it.
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Operation Smile Staff in Sicily Island, Louisiana
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Grants from the Rapides Foundation and The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation made it possible for the clinic to work with Apple Tree on a program
called, “Operation Smile.” The Medical Center acquired an Apple Tree Mobile Dental Office, a Multi-site Delivery Vehicle, and Apple Tree’s
Dental Office Software. The mobile offices will serve children at Head Start Centers in a 100 mile radius from the clinic.
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The Operation Smile Truck Leaves the Twin Cities Office On Its Way South to Louisiana
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