Karen Flanagan Kleinhans, MHA, CEO, Community Dental Care

What is your current role?

I have served as CEO for Community Dental Care for seven and a half years. I lead this non-profit health care organization to deliver on our mission to provide culturally sensitive community oral health care, preventive education, professional training and advocate for access for all. We provide comprehensive oral health care to over 110,000 low-income people of all ages and abilities each year across our five clinics in Minnesota.

What has been your favorite part of being a member of the TRUST?

I very much appreciate and value the mutual support members of the TRUST offer to each other. I am inspired by the intelligence, goodness, dedication and professionalism of women in the TRUST. We strive to make health care better for the benefit of all who need it.

What is the best career advice you’ve received?

The best career advice I follow is to learn as much as I can in every role and situation. It is through experience that you develop your judgement, expertise and skills.

Can you share a pivotal moment in your career that influenced your leadership or professional path?

My very first role in health care administration was to help lead and support the development and implementation of Fairview Physician Associates. It was a tremendous opportunity to learn how to develop a new organization in collaboration with physicians, a hospital system and health plans. It taught me so much about change leadership and stakeholder engagement, organizational design and infrastructure, building and growing an organization, legal issues surrounding structuring a new organization and board development.

Do you have a project or initiative you were particularly proud of leading?

One initiative I am particularly proud of is our expansion to Wright County. I generally seek to identify and understand the values and perspectives of constituents I work with and then develop a plan and strategy that accomplishes shared goals and addresses any concerns the parties have, including ourselves.

When we discovered that our planned expansion to Wright County was being met with resistance from some community leaders who were concerned that a Medicaid dental clinic would be a drain on the community, we got to work to build relationship with the community, including the County Commissioners, community leaders, elected officials and individuals working in community organizations. I attended many community events, all with the goal of listening, building relationship, and demonstrating goodwill and collaboration.

In addition, I thought it would be effective to reach a broader audience by developing a documentary style to create awareness and build support featuring voices of community leaders. (Video link: Community Dental Care New Clinic – Buffalo, MN on Vimeo) To fund this video, we drew upon a “Restricted Grant Fund” I had created and personally funded over a few years in order to build a reserve of funding for “Strategic Projects.”

The result: Our new beautiful 12 operatory clinic opened in September of 2022, in the Wright County Government Center. Not only did we have broad support from the community, but we opened fully staffed with full schedules of patients. We raised 97% of the funds required to build, equip and open the clinic—with support from state bond funding, private foundations, health plans, individual donors, and local businesses. The beautiful clinic was busy and self-sustaining. The clinic served over 13,000 patient visits in 2024. Video: https://vimeo.com/694980857

Words of wisdom to live by?

My long-time favorite quote that I honestly live by is:

“If one moves confidently in the direction of their dreams and endeavors to live the life they have imagined, they will encounter unexpected success.” ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson