SLS 19RS-2349 ORIGINAL
2019 Regular Session
SENATE RESOLUTION NO. 190
BY SENATORS PEACOCK AND TARVER
EDUCATION DEPARTMENT. Requests the Board of Regents to study the feasibility of
establishing a dental school in northern Louisiana.
1 A RESOLUTION
2 To urge and request the Board of Regents to study how the state can optimally meet the oral
3 health needs of our citizens through the establishment of a school of dentistry in
4 northern Louisiana.
5 WHEREAS, Article VIII, Section 5(D)(2) of the Constitution of Louisiana provides,
6 relative to public institutions of postsecondary education, that it is a power, duty, and
7 responsibility of the Board of Regents to approve a proposed degree program, department
8 of instruction, division, or similar subdivision; and
9 WHEREAS, Article VIII, Section 5(D)(3)(a) of the Constitution further provides that
10 it is a power, duty, and responsibility of the board to study the need for and feasibility of
11 creating a new institution of postsecondary education, which includes establishing a branch
12 of such an institution; and
13 WHEREAS, there is great interest in establishing a dental school in northern
14 Louisiana in order to meet the educational needs of students, the economic and workforce
15 development needs of the region, and the healthcare needs of the area's citizens; and
16 WHEREAS, oral health is an important component of overall health for the citizens
17 of Louisiana; and
18 WHEREAS, Louisiana lags behind the rest of the country in key indicators in oral
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1 health; and
2 WHEREAS, in 2016, Louisiana had only forty-eight dentists per one hundred
3 thousand population, which is well below the national average of sixty-one dentists per
4 one hundred thousand population; and
5 WHEREAS, the federal Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) has
6 designated fifty-nine of our sixty-four parishes, and all of the parishes in northern Louisiana,
7 as health professions shortage areas for dental health; and
8 WHEREAS, Louisiana citizens in rural areas or who have low income have been
9 shown to have even more significant challenges in accessing dental care; and
10 WHEREAS, in 2016, the Louisiana Bureau of Primary Care and Rural Health
11 received a HRSA grant to support the Louisiana Oral Health Workforce Expansion Program
12 which set a goal to establish a rural track dental scholars program; and
13 WHEREAS, the northern region of the state lacks a dental school; and
14 WHEREAS, a dental school in north Louisiana would likely greatly expand access
15 to dental care to an area of the state that is underserved.
16 THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the Senate of the Legislature of Louisiana
17 does hereby urge and request the Board of Regents to study how the state can optimally meet
18 the oral health needs of our citizens through the establishment of a school of dentistry in
19 northern Louisiana.
20 BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Board of Regents shall submit a written
21 report of its findings and recommendations to the Senate Committee on Education and the
22 House Committee on Education by not later than ninety days prior to the beginning of the
23 2020 Regular Session of the Legislature.
24 BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a copy of this Resolution be transmitted to the
25 chairman of the Board of Regents and the commissioner of higher education.
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The original instrument and the following digest, which constitutes no part
of the legislative instrument, were prepared by Cheryl Serrett.
DIGEST
SR 190 Original 2019 Regular Session Peacock
Requests the Board of Regents to study how the state can optimally meet the oral health
needs of our citizens through the establishment of a school of dentistry in northern
Louisiana.
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