Staff writer
Patients of longtime Marion dentist Gerald Vinduska got letters last week telling them his Marion office will close June 30.
Vinduska announced in February that he and his family would move to Hutchinson for family reasons and that he hoped to sell his dental practice in Marion. Vinduska is working in Newton as dental director at Health Ministries Clinic.
In his letter to patients, dated April 30 and postmarked May 4, Vinduska said Andover dentist Connie Andrews will continue to see patients on Mondays and Tuesdays through May 24.
“I will work Fridays until June 30 to complete our last few cases,” he wrote. “I have spent much effort since last fall trying to locate a buyer for the practice, as this would have been the best for the patient base, staff, and the community. Two entities were interested in purchasing the practice. However, we have not been able to identify a dentist interested in practicing here.”
Vinduska continued that the decision to close the practice established by his father, Eugene Vinduska, in 1961 “has been very difficult and depressing.”
“For many years I assumed I would work in Marion until retirement,” Vinduska wrote.
Vinduska wrote that patients can see if they can get an appointment at Marion during May or June, see him at his Newton office, or have their records transferred to a different dentist who agrees to take them as patients.
Randy Collett, Marion economic development director, said he’s aware Vinduska has put a great deal of effort into trying to find a dentist to serve Marion.
Still, the departure of the dental practice will likely result in loss of revenue for other Marion businesses, Collett said.
“We will be trying to do whatever we can to make sure somebody moves into that practice,” Collett said. “We are aware that if people have to go somewhere else to get those services, they’re going to do other things while they’re there.”