Geisinger Health Foundation receives First Federal Charitable Foundation grant to support mobile dental health unit and purchase of translation devices
DANVILLE, Pa. – Geisinger Health Foundation received a $35,000 First Federal Charitable Foundation grant to support Geisinger Health Plan’s (GHP’s) mobile dental health unit and purchase three LanguageLine InSight Video Interpreting translation devices to better serve residents in the Greater Hazleton area and northeast region.
Geisinger Health Foundation will use $10,000 of the grant funding to support its Mobile Dental Health Unit, which provides a full spectrum of preventive and diagnostic dental health services for all children in pre-K through grade 12.
The 38-foot-long vehicle allows GHP’s dental health team to travel to schools, community centers and pediatrician offices to administer dental exams, X-rays, cleanings, fluoride treatments and sealants, as well as provide home oral hygiene care education and instruction, and nutritional counseling. Services are provided at no cost to the patients or location.
Geisinger Health Foundation is also using $25,000 to purchase LanguageLine InSight Video Interpreting translation devices. The video remote interpreting is available on tablet, smartphone or laptop and allows limited-English speakers, as well as the Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing, to feel heard and seen by another person.
Through this device, a patient can interact with the digital interpreter, and the dental team will better understand the patient. The device can translate 41 different languages, including American and British Sign Language.
“Thanks to the First Federal Charitable Foundation and these new translation devices, our team will have a better understanding of the needs and concerns of the patients we see on the mobile unit,” said Michael Halupa, DDS, medical director of dental services at GHP. “This enables us to provide exceptional care to everyone, regardless of their language, culture or ability to communicate.”
For information about the mobile dental unit, call 570-452-7430 or email MobileDentalUnit@geisinger.edu.
About First Federal Charitable Foundation
The First Federal Charitable Foundation was established to support worthwhile community causes. It strives to nurture nonprofit institutions and programs that will effectively serve those in need from the community, empower nonprofit institutions and programs that will expand their presence in and services to the area, and promote opportunities for new nonprofit institutions and programs that will serve the unserved. Nonprofit organizations with a 501(c)(3) IRS designation that are located in Luzerne, Schuylkill, Carbon and Columbia counties are eligible to apply. Any organization whose headquarters is in another county but services either Luzerne, Schuylkill, Carbon or Columbia counties may apply for a grant to be used in one of those counties.
For more information on the foundation or to obtain a grant application, visit www.1stfederalcharitable.org or email megan.kennedy@verizon.net.
About Geisinger
Geisinger is among the nation’s leading providers of value-based care, serving 1.2 million people in urban and rural communities across Pennsylvania. Founded in 1915 by philanthropist Abigail Geisinger, the non-profit system generates $10 billion in annual revenues across 134 care sites - including 10 hospital campuses, and Geisinger Health Plan, with 600,000 members in commercial and government plans. The Geisinger College of Health Sciences educates more than 5,000 medical professionals annually and conducts more than 1,400 clinical research studies. With 26,000 employees, including 1,600 employed physicians, Geisinger is among Pennsylvania’s largest employers with an estimated economic impact of $14 billion to the state’s economy. On March 31, 2024, Geisinger became the first member of Risant Health, a new nonprofit charitable organization created to expand and accelerate value-based care across the country. Learn more at geisinger.org or connect with us on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn and X.
