BMS Oral Health Leadership
DR. JOSEPH RADIX
Dr. Joseph Radix, BMS Dental Director was born in Grenada, West Indies, spending his formative years there where he obtained his secondary education at the Grenada Boys Secondary School (G.B.S.S).
Following graduation, he spent time traveling, with an extended stay in London, England. Later he enrolled at Virginia State University, in Petersburg, Virginia, as a chemistry major. It was there he made the decision to become a dentist.
Dr. Radix is a 1984 graduate of the Famous Howard University College of Dentistry in Washington, D.C. Prior to his current position as Lead Dental Clinician he held the position of Dental Director at the Lyndon Baines Johnson Health Center in Bedford Stuyvesant, Brooklyn.
DENTAL SERVICES GROWTH
Today, there are still inadequate numbers of dental practices in East Brooklyn available to provide oral health care for
community. Aside from disparate rates of co-morbidities such as heart disease, stroke, diabetes, and respiratory disease the community these in turn contribute adversely to oral health disparities and further impacts maternal and infant health and mortality.
The opening of the Bristol Dental site will restore exam room capacity for a total of ten (10) dental operatories. Thereafter, BMS will re-open the BMS Dental@Genesis site for a grand total of fifteen (15) dental operatories.
HISTORY OF ORAL SERVICES
BMS Family Health and Wellness Centers began Dental Services in 1988 at 444 Hopkinson Street, Brooklyn, NY 11212 (renamed Thomas S. Boyland Street) - the initial location of the BMS Family Health and Wellness Centers Center opened previously, in 1982. The dental practice operated under the leadership of Dr. Gregory Haskins with clinical support
provided by one (1) Dental Assistant and one (1) Receptionist, and the team utilized three (3) dental chairs, a dental lab and x-ray room. Prior to offering oral health care services, BMS also provided primary care services to both adults and children in this location making this dental department BMS’ first expansion project that co-located dental and medical services.
Since 1988, BMS has sought to reduce oral health care disparities and has continued to expand access to oral health care services in the Brownsville and East New York communities of Brooklyn. In 1992, BMS re-located its dental department to 592 Rockaway Avenue, Brooklyn, NY 11212, to a suite located on the 1st floor of the new 27,000SF BMS Family Health and Wellness Centers Main location. The building was purchased with bond financing through the Dormitory Authority of New York (DASNY). Prior to this, bond financing was reserved for inpatient medical facilities such as hospitals and BMS was the first
outpatient ambulatory care facility in the state of New York to secure this type of financing. In the new building, the dental suite was reestablished with three (3) dental operatories, dental lab and patient waiting room with a total 1,120SF dedicated to the dental department.
Over the years, BMS Dental grew to three dental practices - BMS Dental @ Main, BMS Dental@Genesis and BMS Dental @ Ashford, a total of twelve (12) dental operatories across all sites providing services to the residents of Brownsville and East New York. First, in May 2012, BMS expanded dental services to the East New York Community opening a standalone dental center in the HELP USA Genesis Homes Housing Complex which included five (5) dental operatories. Subsequently, in July 2015, BMS opened its second dental practice in East New York with BMS Dental@Ashford located on the second floor of the
BMS@Ashford satellite health center that included four (4) additional operatories.