JUNEAU, July 3, 2012 — SouthEast Alaska Regional Health Consortium (SEARHC) pediatric dentist Dr. Kim Hort, DMD, won a national award from the National Oral Health Council Executive Committee.

Dr. Hort received the Clinical Excellence Award for Dental Specialist 2012, which honors performance while providing clinical services, providing clinical consultations, program development, clinical presentations and contributions to continuing education, and clinical impact.

“I think this award speaks to the quality of practitioners SEARHC has been able to employ,” said Dr. Tom Bornstein, DDS, SEARHC Director of Dental Services. “It also speaks to the high professional standards Dr. Hort has set for herself. Obviously we are quite proud of her for achieving this level of excellence, though, quite frankly, not too surprised.”

Dr. Hort, who holds the rank of Commander with the U.S. Public Health Service Commissioned Corps, is the sole pediatric dental consultant for Southeast Alaska and is a Diplomate of the American Board of Pediatric Dentistry. She started as a general dentist with SEARHC in August 2000, then took time out in 2005-07 to attend a two-year pediatric dental residency with the Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium in Anchorage, which was administered by Lutheran Medical Center in Brooklyn, N.Y. Dr. Hort earned her Doctor of Dental Medicine (DMD) from the University of Pennsylvania School of Dental Medicine in Philadelphia. She holds a Bachelor of Science degree from Albright College of Reading, Pa.

She returned to SEARHC in 2007 after earning her board certification as a pediatric dentist, winning the Richard C. Pugh Award for scoring in the top 3 percent on the board exam. Dr. Hort now manages SEARHC’s children’s dental program. In addition to providing dental care to Native children in Southeast Alaska, the SEARHC children’s dental program also provides pediatric dental services for children younger than 18 years old who are enrolled in the State of Alaska’s Denali KidCare program and Medicaid. Dr. Hort also has made several presentations and led many staff trainings on SEARHC’s caries risk assessment program (dental caries is the tooth decay that leads to cavities).

For more information about the Denali KidCare program and its eligibility requirements, contact the SEARHC Juneau Medical Center Dental Clinic at 463-4041 or go to the Denali KidCare Web site at https://www.hss.state.ak.us/dhcs/DenaliKidCare/.