California - Elica Health Centers - AEGD

Nina Tecson, DDS
Dental Director / AEGD Program Director
ntecson@elicahealth.org 
www.elicahealth.org

Name of Training Site:
Elica Health Centers

What is the mission of your training site?
At Elica Health Centers, we provide quality, affordable health care through the operation of professional and compassionate health homes for underserved populations, who are confronted with barriers to accessing care.

What types of dental services can I expect to perform?

• Diagnosis and treatment planning
• Periodontal therapy and surgery
• Restorative dentistry
• Fixed and removable prosthodontics
• Oral surgery
• Root canal therapy - anterior, premolar and molar
• Pediatric dentistry
• Nitrous oxide
• Emergency dental treatment

What types of technologies can I expect to use?

• Digital radiography
• Electronic health records (OCHIN Epic)
• Rotary endodontics
• 9.3 micron CO2 Laser

What is the patient population?
The demand for Elica’s healthcare services continues to grow rapidly. For example, we served 38,594 unduplicated patients in 157,471 visits during 2020—over 12% more patients than we served the previous year. We served 47,127 unduplicated patients in calendar 2021.

The need for Elica’s healthcare services is supported by research data concerning underserved populations’ limited access to care in the Sacramento region. For example, according to the 2019 Community Health Needs Assessment of Sacramento County, published by UC Davis Health and the Sacramento Region CHNA Collaborative, the low-income people Elica serves have higher mortality rates of diabetes (Sacramento County: 25.8% vs. California: 22.1%), heart disease (Sacramento County: 172.8% vs. California: 157.3%), cancer (Sacramento County: 170.3% vs. California: 153.4%) and stroke (Sacramento County: 42.3% vs. California: 37.5%) than statewide averages. Furthermore, according to an article in the June 19, 2014 edition of The Sacramento Bee, “…only 30.6% of Sacramento’s low-income children with Medi-Cal…saw a dentist in 2010-11, the third worst rate in California.”

Elica Health Centers’ patients are ethnically and culturally diverse—including, for example: immigrant populations (e.g.: Russian; Ukrainian; Iraqi, Afghan; Hmong, etc.), Caucasian/White populations (29.2%), Latino/Hispanic populations (27%), Asian Pacific Islander populations (17.6%), African-American populations (10.3%) and Native American populations (0.5%). The percentage of Persons of Color in Elica’s patient population has grown substantially during the past decade. For example, in 2011, Elica served 5,540 unique patients—approximately 25% of whom were: African-American, Asian Pacific Islander, Latino/Hispanic and Native American. Nine years later, in 2020, Elica served 38,594 unique patients—62% of whom were: African-American, Asian Pacific Islander, Latino/Hispanic and Native American.

Approximately 57% of Elica’s patients are women. Most of our patients are low-income, and 71% of whom live in households at or below 200% of the Federal Poverty Level.

What is life like outside of the training site?
Sacramento is the capital city of California and America’s Farm-to-Fork capital. Checkout https://www.visitsacramento.com  for more information on outdoor activities, sports,

entertainment and local restaurants, breweries and wineries. If you’re looking for adventure outside the city, Sacramento is a day trip away from Lake Tahoe, San Francisco, Napa Valley Wine Country and countless beaches along the California coast.

Will residents have the opportunity to restore and/or place implants at your training site?
Residents will not have the opportunity to restore and/or place implants at this time.

Will residents treat children in your training site?
Residents will treat children.