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Wright County HHS reports 15,053 dental visits in 2024; internal fraud work yields large savings
Summary
Health and Human Services reported dental clinic statistics, a planned fiscal-host transfer for the dental position, phone and caseload volumes, and a tenfold increase in savings detected after hiring an internal fraud investigator.
Wright County Health and Human Services provided a data-rich update to commissioners on Feb. 4, reporting that the county’s community dental program recorded 15,053 patient visits in 2024, representing 6,190 unique individuals. Jamie, speaking for the department, said 45% of those patient visits were Wright County residents; 88% of patients used public programs and 52% of visits were for children. The program recorded 1,965 emergency dental visits in 2024.
Jamie told commissioners that because Wright County led the dental initiative, the program administration will shift in 2025 to Benton County Public Health, which is finalizing a Blue Cross Blue Shield contract to act as fiscal host for the dental position.
The HHS director also reviewed workload and integrity measures: the financial assistance team handled more than 74,000 phone calls in 2024 and processed thousands of auto-renewals; after hiring an internal fraud investigator (Dan Christian) late in 2023, the department reported $703,000 in savings and $417,000 in overpayments for 2024 — a substantial increase from 2023 figures when no investigator was on staff (the department reported $79,000 in savings and $80,000 in overpayments prior to hiring). "The integrity of the program has really stood up when we have somebody like that on board," Jamie said.
Jamie also noted two letters of support signed in HHS’s name: one to MnDOT backing a shared-use path near Prairie View Middle and Elementary schools, and another supporting a DHS grant application from Central Minnesota Mental Health Center to expand services for children ages 0–5.
The HHS consent agenda was approved unanimously. Commissioners also set a Committee of the Whole meeting to discuss public health on Feb. 18 at 10:30 a.m.
Ending
The department’s statistics and the planned fiscal-host transfer signal a transition in how the regional dental initiative will be administered; staff will continue routine reporting and return with details as Benton County finalizes the fiscal-host agreement.
