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EVART – At a recent meeting in Evart Public Schools The Board of Education received additional information on how the Adolescent Health Center benefits the community and local families.
At the June 12 meeting, the board discussed in detail what the center will bring to the district with Family Health Care CEO Julie Tatko and Children and Adolescent Health Centers Chief Medical Officer Sarah Weirs.
A Child and Adolescent Health Center Program Planning Grant through the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services will provide $100,000 in funding to a school district to create a school-based health clinic with family health care that will provide mental health and primary health care services to children ages 5 to 21 and Teenagers.
In a school-based health center, medical care is provided by a nurse practitioner or physician assistant. Mental health services are provided by a licensed master’s level mental health provider such as a social worker.
Tatko said the project is on track and the team is hitting targets.
“In total, we have to meet six mandatory goals, and we have one and two completed goals,” said Tatko. “The school provides space for us and the professionals, which includes construction or renovation and the health center with care and maintenance. Everything else is handled by family health care, staff, providing the child and youth health center.”
School-based health clinics provide services to patients throughout the year, not just during the school year.
Part of the center’s establishment calls for the formation of a community advisory committee made up of school staff, local parents of school-aged children or teenagers, school health representatives and the sponsoring clinics.
Tatko explained that parents sign a waiver for children to use the facility and that a child cannot be treated without a consent form signed by a parent or guardian.
Since the 1980s, school-based health centers have been offered in Michigan through the MDHHS Child and Adolescent Health Center Program.
Family Health Care operates clinics based in Baldwin, White Cloud and Grant School.
“In 2018, more than 37,000 children and youth in Michigan used school-based health care services,” Tatko said. “We help with the child’s education. We help them stay away for a long time and save them time. Graduation rates have increased, and there will be more than 25 new Child and Adolescent Health Centers in the state of Michigan.
Weirs explained some of the additional benefits of having a center in a school district, including that the center can provide additional services to each family member.
“(School) health centers are basically a stand-alone clinic where students can get all of their health care at the school clinic,” Weirs said. “So they don’t have to leave school, their parents don’t have to leave work to take them to their doctor’s office, they can get preventive health care, they can get mental health services. If we find a place to serve, they can get prescriptions for their medications, and they can get their vaccinations.
“If they’re really sick, they can come down to the clinic and see us, and we can assess whether they should stay at school or go home,” she says. “We can also co-manage chronic conditions like asthma or attention deficit disorder or hyperactivity disorder with their existing primary care providers.”
Weirs explained that the school center can be the student’s primary care provider or partner with an existing primary care provider, and the education centers do a lot of health education and Medicaid services and enrollment.
Clinic staff who see students that day will contact parents to let them know what the child saw and what the center recommends to take next steps to address the child’s needs.
Weirs said connecting with parents is important for staff.
“We try to be flexible, give the students what they need to stay healthy and learn,” Weirs said. “I know this community has a lot of resources navigating some of the difficult situations with medical providers and health insurance, and we want to help by being comfortable and confidential and helping with mental health needs and then reducing the need for time off for parents.”
The committee’s next steps include gathering responses from community members regarding the community’s needs, as well as sharing information with families to spread awareness about the new health center project plan.
The new school Inn and Evart Clinic are slated to open in the 2023-2024 school year.
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