By Kevin Haas
Rock River Current
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ROCKFORD — Milestone Inc. on Tuesday celebrated a quarter-century of providing patients with intellectual and developmental disabilities with dental care.
Milestone Dental Clinic, 275 N. Phelps Ave., opened in 1999 as the first clinic of its kind in the state. At the time there was no resource for patients with special needs, both because of an inability to pay and because of the special approach needed for their dental care.
“I would get calls daily from parents of kids with disabilities or facilities saying, we don’t know what we can do,” said co-founder Kathy Olson, a dental hygienist who was working with SwedishAmerican Hospital at the time. “I knew there was a huge need here. It’s just really heartwarming to see that 25 years later it’s still here. The place still looks great. It kind of feels like walking back into home when you get here.”
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Milestone held a short anniversary celebration on Tuesday with the nonprofit’s founder Jim Hamilton, who is now retired and living in Florida, and state lawmakers and other supporters of the operation.
Milestone purchased and renovated the former John Carlson’s Menswear 25 years ago for the dental clinic. The 3,400-square-foot facility now has eight exam rooms, two of which are designed as full-time hygiene rooms. One room has a wheelchair lift and no standard dental chair. All rooms are designed with the sensory needs of patients in mind, including special lighting, soundproofing, soft flooring and muted colors designed by a behavioral specialist.
Milestone Dental Clinic is one of just a few in the country designed to serve only patients with a primary diagnosis of an intellectual or developmental disability. It serves thousands of patients from 42 counties.
“That tells you what the need for special needs dentistry is,” said Bill Grahn, president and CEO of Milestone. “People are willing to and/or drive distances to have these dental needs done.”
No patients are turned away from the clinic based on ability to pay.
The clinic is supported by more than $1.4 million in donations and grants from a variety of foundations, service clubs and foundations. Hamilton said the clinic started with the help of a grant from the Illinois Department of Human Services.
“I went down there and I said my clients, the kids that we serve and the adults, have no chance for dental care,” Hamilton said. “There was no resource for them, and this became a resource for really all of northern Illinois.”
This article is by Kevin Haas. Email him at khaas@rockrivercurrent.com or follow him on X at @KevinMHaas or Instagram @thekevinhaas and Threads @thekevinhaas