PORT ANGELES — It’s a career in high demand that also pays a good salary.
But for years there’s been no place to pursue an associate degree in dental hygiene on the North Olympic Peninsula.
That will change starting in the fall.
Thanks to a burgeoning relationship between Peninsula College, Pierce College in Lakewood and Olympic Community Action Programs, Port Angeles will not only be getting a new low-cost dental clinic, but local students can now get a dental hygiene degree close to home.
“The potential for this project is enormous,” said Tim Hockett, deputy director at OlyCAP.
“It’s all coming together — this vision is soon going to be a reality.”
This morning, Hockett, OlyCAP executive director Dan Wollam and representatives from Peninsula and Pierce colleges will sign an agreement at the governor’s office in Olympia to begin the official collaboration of the dental clinic and the dental clinic instruction program.
There are two major aspects to the plan being created by the three parties.
Clinic and student lab
The first is a dental clinic that will be constructed inside an 1,800-square-foot space inside Armory Square Professional Center in downtown Port Angeles.
It is being designed by Gibson Design Group, a local architectural firm, and will contain a secure patient records area, six state-of-the-art dental work stations, large sterilization center, separate X-ray room, lab and a restroom.
Construction is slated to begin at the end of June and will be completed by the fall, Hockett said.
The clinic, which will cost about $350,000 to open, will offer low-income patients service on a sliding-fee scale, filling a hole for affordable dental service in Port Angeles.
