'IT'S A GREAT FACILITY' Tennessee health leaders tour Healing Hands Health Center
State of Tennessee Interim Commissioner of Health, Dr. John Dunn (left) talks with staff dentist Dr. Dillon Cutshaw (right) during a tour of the Healing Hands Health buildings in Bristol, Tennessee.
Photo Credit: Emily Ball | Bristol Herald Courier
University of Tennessee College of Dentistry Dean Dr. Ken Tilashalski talks about their partnership with Healing Hands Health in Bristol, Tennessee.
BRISTOL, Tenn. – State health officials toured Healing Hands Health Center’s new medical/behavioral health clinic and expanded dental clinic on Wednesday.
A delegation of 10 state and area health leaders including state Health Commissioner Dr. John Dunn and Dr. Ken Tilashalski, dean of the college of dentistry at UT Health Science Center, spent about an hour learning about how the clinic utilizes state support and its relationships with colleges and universities.
Dr. John Dunn, Commissioner of Health, talks about his visit to Healing Hands Health in Bristol, Tennessee on Wednesday morning.
“It’s a great facility and we’ve been very proud to partner from the state perspective and the University of Tennessee,” Dunn said. “We love the idea of colocation of services and there are a lot of services being provided here.”
In May Healing Hands opened its 9,800-square-foot medical and behavioral health clinic, which accompanies expansion of its dental services.
Helen Scott (right), Healing Hands Health executive director, talks with State of Tennessee Interim Commissioner of Health, Dr. John Dunn (left), during a tour of the facility in Bristol, Tennessee.
Photo Credit: Emily Ball | Bristol Herald Courier
Healing Hands had more than 10,400 encounters with over 2,200 individual patients in 2025 and served over 17,000 individuals since opening nearly 30 years ago.
Dunn said his office is visiting multiple safety net clinics.
“Safety Net is a program where we’ve been able to increase funding for patient visits and Healing Hands has been able to take advantage of that,” Dunn said. “We’re visiting several clinics around the area and around the state.”
Dunn called the program “important.”
“We certainly hope the Safety Net program is going to continue. It’s been such an important funding source for Tennessee for dental and medical services. Here at Healing Hands we’ve also had the chance to provide some grant funding for behavioral health. This integrated model is really important for people who need multiple services and this is a beautiful facility.”
Healing Hands serves residents of nine Tennessee counties
Healing Hands Health executive director Helen Scott (center right) and State of Tennessee Interim Commissioner of Health, Dr. John Dunn (right) listen to Community Health Worker, Cassidy Lee (center left) and Community Health Manager Skye Twitty (left) during his tour of the facility in Bristol, Tennessee.
Photo Credit: Emily Ball | Bristol Herald Courier
In fiscal year 2024–25, Tennessee allocated more than $31 million to its Health Care Safety Net program with 82.5% directed to Primary Care Plus which covers primary care, dental, and behavioral health services, according to the Tennessee Primary Care Association.
Healing Hands has received more than$2.4 million in Safety Net funding since 2007.
Dunn said clinics like Healing Hands fill a critical need.
“In Tennessee we have a real need, especially in rural areas, for our citizens who are either uninsured or under insured to be able to get access to care that they need,” Dunn said.
He said the programs have grown under Gov. Lee’s administration and he is hopeful that support continues.
Healing Hands dental clinic hosts dental students from UT as one of four affiliated clinics. Others are in Crossville, Chattanooga and Bristol. UT also established a dental clinic in Kingsport.
“There are lots of benefits for our students and the region,” Tilashalski said. “We want to introduce our students to various practice models across the state to work with federally qualified health centers is super important. It gets our students into an area of need. We have one of our graduates who is doing the loan repayment program through the Healthy Smiles initiative. He’s in his third year of working here at Healing Hands supervising our students – which is great.
“It opens our students eyes up to rural areas. One of the students we talked to this morning has already requested to do her next rotation here,” Tilashalski said. “We do provide a faculty member here as well…Its opening their eyes to the needs of the area, to serve an underserved community but also helping the need in the area.”
Tilashalski said UT operates clinics or works in partnership throughout the state and its goal is to have a clinic within a one-hour drive of every state resident.
“This [Healing Hands] was our very first external rotation so its near and dear to our heart,” he said. “It’s just been a fabulous partnership.”
David McGee | Bristol Herald Courier