Healthcare entrepreneur announces $5 million seed grant to build specialty dental ambulatory surgical center in Heber

Dr. Maximilian Chambers told the Board of Supervisors on May 20 that a newly formed nonprofit has secured a $5,000,000 seed grant from the California Health Facilities Financing Authority to build a dental ambulatory surgical center in Heber intended to serve patients with intellectual and developmental disabilities and complex pediatric dental needs.

Chambers introduced Empowered Dental Surgical Centers (referred to in the presentation as IDS C), saying the center is “purpose built and designed for individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities, patients with complex dental and medical needs, and advanced pediatric dental cases.” He told the board the grant was “authored and secured by myself” and that the center aims to reduce long wait times and out‑of‑county travel for surgical dental care.

Chambers described partnerships and planned collaborations with academic medical centers and industry, listing NYU Langone, UCSF and the University of Iowa among institutions he said the project is cultivating relationships with, and cited private partners and potential AI research collaborators. He asked for a private audience with the board to “further explore how your partnership can propel this vision forward.”

Supervisor Peggy Price thanked Chambers and said the proposed center could reduce the need for Imperial Valley families to travel to Los Angeles, San Diego, Riverside, Arizona or Mexicali for complex dental surgical care.

No formal board action or vote was taken on the presentation at the May 20 meeting.