Improving access to healthcare for Long Islanders with developmental disabilities

Like many children, Hayden Maran, of Farmingdale, was not fond of going to the dentist.

The waiting room was noisy and X-rays were difficult — a situation exacerbated by his sensory issues and physical limitations from cerebral palsy. He could tolerate work on only a few of his teeth at a time.

Maran is not alone. Experts say some people with developmental disabilities have a difficult time tolerating and accessing healthcare, whether it's a visit to the dentist or the dermatologist.

The state recently unveiled $25 million in funding for programs that specialize in healthcare geared to people with developmental disabilities. Long Island Select Healthcare, a federally qualified health center with several facilities in Suffolk County, is receiving $2.3 million to build a mobile dental clinic and expand capacity at its Riverhead facility.

Willow Baer, commissioner of the state Office for People With Developmental Disabilities, said Monday that people with developmental disabilities tend to need more frequent appointments and longer appointment times to establish a relationship with providers.

"One of the first things I did when I started in this role was I hired a team of people with developmental disabilities to work with us in the office, to advise about policy, and what was important to them," she said while visiting Long Island Select Healthcare's Central Islip facility. "Access to healthcare was the Number One thing I heard across the board."

Aaron Clark, CEO of Long Island Select Healthcare, told Newsday the grant will help the nonprofit update the Riverhead facility to create a more sensory-friendly environment and increase capacity in the facility for both dental, medical and specialty services by about 50%.

"We’re going to have adjustable LED lighting, acoustic sound dampening ceiling tiles," he said. The center also will be adding lifts to help patients get into and out of chairs, and changing the types of chairs used at the dental facility to make them more accessible.

Clark said many patients, especially those in group homes, can spend two to three hours traveling to appointments.

"The mobile unit will be wheelchair accessible and we'll be able to take it to group homes, to daycare facilities ... where the patients are, to provide both medical and dental services, rather than making those patients come to us," he said.

Maran, who is now 18, has been seeing a dentist at the organization’s Central Islip medical offices in recent years. He now looks forward to the appointments, said his mother, Debbi Maran.

"The atmosphere is so quiet, peaceful, calm — that makes a huge difference for him," she said, noting her son sees other specialty doctors at the Central Islip office. "They also take their time and build trust. Everybody is like family."

Hayden Maran smiled at several doctors and providers who stopped to say hello after he and his mother addressed the gathering in the lobby at Central Islip.

"And this is a kid who had 'white coat syndrome' when he was 2," Debbi Maran said, referring to a fear of physicians and other medical professionals.

By Lisa L. Colangelo

lisa.colangelo@newsday.com@lisalcolangelo

Lisa joined Newsday as a staff writer in 2019. She previously worked at amNewYork, the New York Daily News and the Asbury Park Press covering politics, government and general assignment.