Introducing United Indian Health Services Dental Program

In the face of overwhelming urbanization, Vesper Society cares about what happens in rural areas.

This is why we support United Indian Health Services (UIHS), which has been providing comprehensive healthcare to Native American communities in remote Northwest California for over 40 years.

UIHS runs two large clinics in Arcata (Humboldt County) and Crescent City (Del Norte County). Even with these two clinics serving the more populated towns in a very remote region, some residents still needed to travel three hours each way for a one-hour appointment. Committed to making quality healthcare more accessible, UIHS established a smaller satellite health center in Weitchpec offering weekly medical services. The location is a cultural hub for the Yurok Tribe and a convenient location for those who live along the upper Klamath River.

The Native American Oral Health Care Project reports that dental decay is 300 times more likely in the American Indian population than it is in the general U.S. population.

Recognizing a medical need not met by their current offerings, UIHS goes above and beyond to provide dental services. Twice a year, staff members pack up dental chairs, equipment, and computers and drive a narrow two-lane road through the mountains to set up shop at the Libby Nix Community Center in Weitchpec. They live there for two weeks, providing much-needed dental services like exams, fillings, extractions, cleanings, and oral hygiene instructions.

Tribal government leaders keenly understand the oral health crisis in their communities, and UIHS is working closely with the tribes to provide more consistent and comprehensive dental services to this community.

Vesper Society admires UIHS’s approach in linking arms with leaders of overlooked communities to create a healthy future. We are honored to support these important long-term solutions that take us one step closer to realizing the potential for this community to thrive and prosper.