Good Samaritans
A dental community rallies around a fire-stricken dental practice and helps put dentists back to work.
When Wichita Branch Manager Angie Holladay heard about the fire at the Old Mill Building in Newton, Kansas, the Monday before Thanksgiving, she knew that the dentists who practiced there would be in need. She drove from the branch office in Wichita to Newton, about 20 minutes away, where Doctors Harold Gregg and Thomas Bette had practiced for more than 30 years. When she arrived at their office, heavy smoke was lingering in the corners and the doctors were assessing the damage. “I introduced myself and said, ‘If there’s anything we can do to get you up and running, we’d be glad to help,’” Holladay said.
While Patterson was reaching out to the doctors, the tight-knit Newton community, where Dr. Gregg is from, was lending a helping hand as well. Dr. Nicole Gust, a general dentist and the wife of a local orthodontist, Dr. Jeff Gust, grew up in Newton and had heard about the fire from her family. She called Patterson Dental Equipment Specialist Adam Halabi and offered to help the doctors in any way that she and her husband could.
Dr. Jeff had been renting a temporary space in Newton and developing a loyal patient following. After two years, he felt he had generated enough business to justify building a permanent practice. On the main street in downtown, Dr. Jeff found an ideal space to renovate and with the help of his Patterson team, including Halabi, the new practice was slated to open in January 2010.
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Halabi spoke with Holladay and they brainstormed a number of ways to help Drs. Gregg and Bette. They came to the conclusion that temporarily working out of Dr. Jeff’s new practice space before he moved in might be the best solution. Holladay called the doctors and suggested that they stop by Gust Orthodontics later that day.
When Drs. Gregg and Bette dropped by the Gust practice that afternoon, Halabi and Dr. Nicole were in the process of installing the new practice equipment. Dr. Nicole greeted the doctors and Halabi showed them the new PLANMECA and Midmark chairs, Midmark units and Forest lights that he and his team were installing.
Even though the doctors weren’t Patterson customers, Halabi said he and his team wanted to do something. “We did this because the doctors had a problem and, like any neighbor or friend, we wanted to help,” Halabi said.
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