Since 1980, Community Health of East Tennessee has been serving the community

LAFOLLETTE, TN. (WLAF)- The 39th annual Campbell County Chamber of Commerce and Tourism Annual Meeting and Awards Dinner is this evening at Ball Farm Event Center beginning at 5:30pm. The 2025 Business of the Year Award will be presented to Community Health of East Tennessee (CHET), along with presenting the Community Awards. The keynote speaker is Lt. General James Campbell.

“We are honored to receive this recognition and appreciate the Chamber for thinking of us. For the last 45 years we have tried to maintain our mission statement of “answering the need” to serve our community and hope to be able to do so for the next 45 years,” said Teresa Dabney, CEO (Chief Executive Officer) for CHET 

“Our staff is so excited and thankful to the Chamber for this honor. I love being a part of the CHET family,” said Penny Etter, Chief Operating Officer (COO) of CHET.

ABOUT CHET

By Charlotte Underwood

Community Health of East Tennessee’s (CHET) health clinic offers a full range of health services to fit the needs of the community, handling primary care, pediatric needs, medication assistance, endocrinology, in-house labs, x rays, and more. The recent addition of the dental clinic is a bonus for the area.

Community Health had been working on establishing a dental clinic since last year, and it is now a reality. Meet CHET’s dentists HERE.

“It’s such a need for our community. Not only are we able to care for those who have dental insurance, we also have the ability to help those who are uninsured or have TennCare. This is a big bonus to our area,” Etter said, adding that “many people don’t realize how important dental health is to your wellness and that poor dental health can lead to many other health issues.”

The health clinic is a cornerstone of the community and plays an integral role in the health and wellbeing of Campbell County citizens.

The community clinic started as a grassroots nonprofit organization 45 years ago and “has grown to be a service agency providing integral health and social services to Campbell County.”

According to Etter, CHET serves thousands of patients each year.

“We offer in-house lab and X-ray, medication assistance, primary care, pediatrics, endocrinology and we just opened our dental clinic,” Etter said.

The fully staffed clinic provides much needed medical care to the community and is “excited to now have the recent addition of dental care as well.”

“Our employees are more than co-workers; we are family. I am so thankful for our staff and their commitment to our patients,” Etter said,

Community Health of East Tennessee began in January of 1980 as TN Respiratory Clinics. The clinic was also called REACHES for a while. The clinic became a Federally Qualified Health Center in 2012.

CHET accepts most insurance plans and offers a sliding fee scale for uninsured or underinsured patients.

The clinic offers Health Care, Pediatrics, Endocrinology, Behavioral Health, Black lung, Recovery, a Veteran’s Affairs clinic, dental health and more. 

Community Health of East Tennessee is located at 130 Independence Lane, in LaFollette.  Call 423.562.1705 or visit CHET’s website. (WLAF NEWS PUBLISHED 06/26/2025-6AM)

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