More health centers are opening in schools across the country, bringing care directly to students, staff and families.
There’s been a rapid expansion of school-based health centers in Georgia and nationally, according to a report in The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. For instance, a new clinic is opening in a former classroom at south Atlanta’s Dobbs Elementary School this fall. Parent Juanita Jones told the newspaper that the school’s clinic will help her save the $30 ride to get her children to the emergency room when they get sick and make it easier to get refills on her blood pressure medication.
The number of health clinics in Georgia schools have increased eight-fold since 2010, when a group of private funders led by Emory University began working with local groups to start clinics in their communities, according to the report. “School-based health centers eliminate every barrier to healthcare that you can think of,” Veda Johnson, M.D., who has led Emory University’s work to expand the clinics statewide, told the newspaper.
Studies show in-school health clinics lead to lower student absenteeism, emergency room use and Medicaid costs, the report said. An Oregon school district earlier this year teamed up with a local family medicine practice to provide medical care to students, staff and their immediate family members in a clinic that opened within its high school.
The Georgia clinics serve some of the state’s poorest families and provide basic care such as school physicals, vaccinations, and treatment for sore throats and other health problems. Most are staffed by a nurse practitioner or physician assistant with oversight by a doctor. While they start out serving students and school staff, most eventually provide services to the community, according to Johnson. There’s little cost to the schools and most clinics become financially self-supporting through public and private insurance payments.
Health systems are getting creative. The Mayo Clinic Health System has partnered with Austin Public Schools in Minnesota and is using its telemedicine system, which combines cloud-based software and walk-in kiosks, to allow school staff to connect with providers.
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