{"id":707966,"date":"2026-06-16T18:48:24","date_gmt":"2026-06-16T18:48:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/707966\/"},"modified":"2026-06-16T18:48:24","modified_gmt":"2026-06-16T18:48:24","slug":"this-pa-dentist-treats-1000s-of-patients-from-multiple-rural-counties-what-will-happen-when-he-retires-pennsylvania-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/707966\/","title":{"rendered":"This PA dentist treats 1000s of patients from multiple rural counties. What will happen when he retires? | Pennsylvania News"},"content":{"rendered":"

This story was produced by the State College regional bureau of Spotlight PA<\/a>, an independent, nonpartisan newsroom dedicated to investigative and public-service journalism for Pennsylvania. Sign up for Talk of the Town, a newsletter of local stories that dig deep, events, and more from north-central PA, at spotlightpa.org\/newsletters\/talkofthetown<\/a>.<\/p>\n

When James Mancini closed his private practice in Allegheny County to work in rural Pennsylvania, he saw it as a chance to serve patients who often waited months and made long drives to see a dentist.<\/p>\n

That was two decades ago. Now, after 40 years on the job, he\u2019s thinking about retirement.<\/p>\n

But the 66-year-old faces a familiar problem: finding a replacement.<\/p>\n

Mancini currently works in rural Crawford County as Meadville Medical Center\u2019s director of dental services. Recruitment isn\u2019t as simple as visiting the University of Pittsburgh, one of Pennsylvania\u2019s three dental schools, and pitching the job to graduating students, Mancini said.<\/p>\n

\u201cAll of them look at me because they don\u2019t know where Meadville is,\u201d he told Spotlight PA.<\/p>\n

The challenge reflects a broader trend across rural communities: A shrinking and aging workforce has made it harder to access oral healthcare. As older dentists in these areas make plans to retire, younger professionals aren\u2019t relocating to replace them \u2014 saddling patients with long waits and lengthy trips to get treatment. Some forgo care altogether.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Mancini and two other providers treat around 16,000 people annually at Meadville\u2019s two dental centers, which offer exams, cleaning, surgery, X-rays, and more.<\/p>\n

In March, 485 patients were treated at Valley Dental Center, the smaller of the two, and 1,085 people went to Meadville Dental Center.<\/p>\n

While most patients are local, some travel from neighboring Erie, Mercer, and Venango Counties, and even as far as Clarion and McKean Counties, each more than an hourlong drive.<\/p>\n

Mancini understands a far commute. He lives in Allegheny County and makes the 92-mile drive to Crawford County three days a week. When the centers are short-staffed, he hits the road even more.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is very rewarding to me,\u201d Mancini said. \u201cThis is what I went to dental school for \u2014 to help people \u2014 and that\u2019s what I\u2019m doing.\u201d<\/p>\n

But finding people to work in rural areas isn\u2019t easy. A 2023 legislative study<\/a> found that just 6% of Pennsylvania dental school graduates in 2019 had plans to work in such a place. Meanwhile, the study reported that 55% of the state\u2019s rural dentists were nearing retirement age. State officials and educators are now trying to address that shortage by building a pipeline of providers who already have ties to rural communities.<\/p>\n

A new initiative from the University of Pittsburgh hopes to close that gap by training future dental workers in rural areas. Through a network of regional training centers<\/a>, Pitt\u2019s School of Dental Medicine will offer degree or certificate programs in general practice residency, dental assisting, and dental hygiene, with online coursework and in-person training at local clinics.<\/p>\n

The centers \u2014 currently planned for Cambria, Crawford, and McKean Counties \u2014 aim to let students train in the field and stay close to home. Providers and policymakers hope to attract people from rural areas who want to stick around and provide oral care.<\/p>\n

Pitt plans to open its Crawford and McKean locations this summer.<\/p>\n

Each training center will have three general practice residents, 10 hygiene students, and up to eight dental assistants.<\/p>\n

Jared Stonesifer, a Pitt spokesperson, told Spotlight PA in an email that the school estimates each training center will treat 4,000 patients in the first year with one class of hygiene students. That number is expected to jump to at least 5,000 in the second year, he added.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere is great interest and excitement regarding these programs, which give students from rural areas the opportunity to embark on a career in healthcare without having to leave their home communities,\u201d he wrote.<\/p>\n

The state Department of Human Services cited the regional training centers as a way to address service gaps in the field in its application<\/a> for federal Rural Health Transformation Program<\/a> dollars.<\/p>\n

Additionally, officials pointed to Temple University\u2019s rural dental education center and clinic, which will open in rural Schuylkill County this fall. The facility will have capacity for 10 third- and fourth-year dental students during their last two years of training, providing care to those in need.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf this concept is as successful as I believe it will be, I think it\u2019s going to present a model not just for the rest of Pennsylvania but for the nation,\u201d state Sen. David Argall (R., Schuylkill), who has hosted several policy hearings on expanding education and removing barriers to care, told Spotlight PA.<\/p>\n

SUPPORT THIS JOURNALISM and help us reinvigorate local news in north-central Pennsylvania at spotlightpa.org\/donate<\/a>. Spotlight PA is funded by foundations and readers like you<\/a> who are committed to accountability and public-service journalism that gets results.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"This story was produced by the State College regional bureau of Spotlight PA, an independent, nonpartisan newsroom dedicated…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":707967,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[59],"tags":[97,252,253],"class_list":["post-707966","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-health-care","tag-health","tag-health-care","tag-healthcare"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/707966","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=707966"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/707966\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/707967"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=707966"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=707966"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=707966"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}