Every year, individuals in the legislature and our communities demonstrate outstanding leadership in oral health advocacy and/or a strong commitment to improving the state of oral health in the Commonwealth.
This week, Watch Your Mouth and Health Care For All are teaming up to honor these individuals at the 5th Annual Oral Health Heroes Event. Please join us in thanking these individuals and celebrating our accomplishments over the past year: Thursday, February 25, 11am-12 noon, Massachusetts State House, Nurses Hall.
This year’s legislative honorees are Senator Steven Panagiotakos and Representative Ellen Story. Senator Panagiotakos, while serving in a leadership role as Chair of the Senate Committee on Ways and Means, was instrumental in preserving dental benefits for adults on MassHealth in the FY2010 budget. Representative Story has consistently stood up for oral health, signing on to many great oral health bills and testifying at several hearings at the State House to promote oral health.
We also are honoring two members of the community who have demonstrated significant leadership in oral health: Hugh Silk, M.D., and Herlivi Linares, D.D.S. Dr. Silk is a family physician at Hahnemann Family Health Center in Worcester. He has been a longtime partner of the Watch Your Mouth Campaign, helping to plan oral health events in his community and consistently serving as a spokesperson with the media. Dr. Linares is an Associate Dental Director of Lynn Community Health Center Dental Services, and has shown an ongoing commitment to protecting the health and well-being of her community by providing crucial oral health services.
The focus of the event will be celebrating the accomplishments that have been made by collaboration between the oral health community and other vested stakeholders. Dr. Frank Robinson, Executive Director of Partners for a Healthier Community, will give the keynote address, sharing his experiences in public health policy advocacy, building collaborations and leadership capacity to address various public health issues, including oral health. Other speakers will include: Senator Harriette Chandler; Representative John Scibak; Ralph Fuccillo, DentaQuest Foundation; Dr. John Morgan, Tufts Dental Facilities; and Amy Whitcomb Slemmer, Health Care For All.
-Christine Keeves
