The ODS Companies, a Portland-based organization that provides a full range of medical and dental insurance for employers and individuals, will delay the opening of its Bend school for dental hygienists for at least one year, according to officials from Economic Development for Central Oregon, due to the company being selected to offer insurance coverage for 165,000-or-so state education employees.
Company officials say the new contract requires it to focus efforts on the insurance needs of the
Oregon Education Benefits Board, and that as a result it will not have the manpower and focus opening the school requires.
The year-long delay could be a boon to some local dentists because patients who may have gone to the ODS college for treatment, traditionally performed in training colleges at discounted rates by students looking to gain hands-on experience, will now continue to seek care from a local DDS rather than seeking out the dental hygienist college.
ODS was expected to employ 60 full-time workers in high salaried positions based on its acceptance of a $135,000 loan from EDCO, which required creating and keeping those positions for four years in order for ODS to be able to forgo repayment of the loan.
Meanwhile, at the edge of Bend’s Old Mill District construction continues on the ODS building. Residents have watched progress on the $30 million edifice, which is visible from Highway 97 at the edge of the Wilson Avenue-Bond Street roundabout, ever since it began to rise out of the landscape in late 2007. ODS plans to share it 78,300-square-foot headquarters with Western Title & Escrow once the facility is completed. Finishing touches are expected to be completed this December.
The five-story structure, which is tentatively being called the ODS/Western Building, is expected to qualify for a Gold Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design certification (LEED) based on developer Gerding Edlen Development’s use of recycled materials in construction. One highlight of the completed building will be a rooftop garden that filters off stormwater and helps keep the building warm in the winter cool in the summer.
