Plainview’s branch of Family 1st Dental closed recently with the final day at the end of October, as finding a dentist to fill the position locally has been difficult.
PHS Alum, Emily Rutledge, who serves as the Recruiting Coordinator for Family 1st Dental, said that the previous dentist, Dr. Cambre, had relocated her family to Georgia to be closer to relatives, and that Family 1st had attempted to find a replacement dentist, but so far was unable to fill the position.
“Knowing [Dr. Cambre’s leaving] was a possibility, we began recruiting over a year ago,” said Rutledge. “We travel to the dental schools in Nebraska, Iowa… and also utilized a national dental recruiting company. Even with all these efforts, we were unable to secure a new doctor to keep the practice open.”
Since Dr. Cambre’s departure other dentists had been traveling from other offices to cover, but since October, that was no longer sustainable.
Rutledge said that they had also offered the office for sale, in hopes that another local or regional office would purchase it as a second or satellite location, but no one was willing to close a deal as of the end of October.
The Creighton office closed as well.
Family 1st Dental operates a number of offices in Northeast Nebraska, and transferring to those offices is an easy enough change for customers – as they have offices in Osmond and Wausa nearby.
Patient letters were also sent out to all active patients from the past few years, offering alternatives for care.