Sen. Dave Argall (R-Schuylkill County) and Rep. Jamie Barton (R-Schuylkill) announced this week at the Pennsylvania Oral Health Summit that Temple University’s Kornberg School of Dentistry is looking to open its rural dental education center and clinic at the site of a former Rite Aid in downtown Tamaqua.
Temple has partnered with the Tamaqua Area Community Partnership on the project.
The center awaits approval by the Temple University Board of Trustees. The proposed center would have 24 chairs and will host 20 dental students on the rural dentistry track. Dental students will complete the final two years of dental school at the Tamaqua campus and provide dental services to residents of Schuylkill, Carbon and Luzerne counties.
Students will live in downtown Tamaqua, in an old department store that will be renovated into apartments. Temple told WVIA earlier this year that the dental school will cover students’ housing costs, which will be financially supported by tuition.
The clinic also is expected to create about 20 new jobs.
Filling gaps in rural dentistry
Temple’s dentistry school also started discussions with Lehigh Carbon Community College (LCCC) about a dental hygiene program that will train six to 10 students. Argall chaired a public hearing through the Senate Majority Policy Committee about dental care shortages in rural Pennsylvania.
“When we held a Senate hearing in Tamaqua, we heard heartbreaking testimony about families driving hours just to find basic dental care,” said Argall. “We learned that if your dentist retires, it can take months to find a new one. This joint effort between Temple University, LCCC and local and state partners will not only help fill that gap — it will create new jobs, expand health care access and build a lasting foundation for rural health education in Pennsylvania.”
Argall worked closely with the dental school’s dean, Dr. Amid Ismail.
“I hope that the patients who currently have a lot of problems receiving care, will receive care without the hassles of driving long distances,” Ismail told WVIA earlier this year. “I hope that we have the political support to operate and sustain the clinic. And I hope to discuss with the local community college about training dental assistant dental hygienists who will be needed in this clinic.”
Funding for the project will come from Temple University, state and federal grants, private donations and Tamaqua Borough’s involvement in the Pennsylvania City Revitalization and Improvement Zone program, which allows tax revenue donated within the zone to be reinvested in local redevelopment projects.
Renovations on both the education center and student housing are expected to begin before the end of this year. Officials have said the center is expected to open for the Fall semester in September 2026.
