Dr. Dolby wins Tarrson Award
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Posted Oct. 19, 2006 |
By Stacie Crozier Tumwater, Wash.—Dr. Tim Dolby's desire to help those in need led him to take eight mission trips to Mexico, but five years ago, when he ended up sick and in the hospital during a trip, he said he realized there were people closer to home that needed help, too.
Dr. Dolby is the 2006 recipient of the ADA Foundation's E. Bud Tarrson Access to Oral Health Care Award, recognizing his work in establishing a free dental clinic for underserved individuals in Southwestern Washington.
The effort began with a rented dental van from which three or four dentists volunteered two or three times a month to treat patients. "After two years, we lost the van and we had to decide what to do next," he says.
That's when Dr. Dolby became a fundraiser, concentrating on raising $200,000 to open a two-chair clinic, and his wife Jean and her friend Shelby Davies donated their time and talents in interior design for the new clinic—the Olympia Union Gospel Mission Free Dental Clinic.
Dr. Dolby also recruits and organizes dental professional volunteers, including about 17 dentists and eight dental assistants and hygienists, who staff the clinic a minimum of three days a week.
"The reality is that asking a colleague to take a week or two and close his or her office to go to Mexico makes it hard for dentists to volunteer, but when you can ask them for a day or two each month at a location close to home, it works," Dr. Dolby says.
The clinic, the only free dental care facility in the region, treats a variety of patients, including the homeless and low-income residents, and focuses heavily on emergency dental care.
Dr. Dolby received an Access Recognition Award from the ADA Council on Access, Prevention and Interprofessional Relations in September 2005 for his commitment to increasing access to dental care at the local level for the underserved citizens and being a primary force behind the building and staffing of the Olympia Union Gospel Mission's dental clinic.
As winner of the Tarrson award, Dr. Dolby has selected the Olympia Union Gospel Mission Free Dental Clinic as his designated charity to receive a $2,500 grant from the ADA Foundation. Tomorrow, he will receive a certificate from the Thurston-Mason Counties Dental Society during the dental clinic's annual fundraiser concert.
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