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ZEBULON - More than 300,000 children in Georgia are uninsured and have limited access to routine healthcare according to a November 2, 2010 press release about the Emory Urban Health Program released by the Georgia Family Connection Partnership. One way to provide care to those who have limited access to healthcare is through school-based health clinics as part of a $3 million gift from the Zeist Foundation. The first eleven grants for school-based clinics were awarded in 2010 with seven grants being awarded in 2011. Pike County is one of those seven counties that have been awarded this year.
Veda Johnson, MD, Executive Director of Emory University Department of Pediatrics Urban Health Program and co-founder of the Whitefoord Community Program's school-based clinics, was the guest speaker at the School-Based Health Center Lunch and Learn in Zebulon on December 15, 2011. This program was presented by Pike County’s You Equal Success (Y.E.S.) Team. Over fifty people were in attendance including representatives from the Pike County School System and business community as well as the Pike and Spalding County public health communities and concerned citizens.
Michael Powell, Executive Director of Pike County’s You Equal Success (Y.E.S.) Team, Inc. which is part of the Georgia Family Connection which is part of the Georgia Family Connection partnership, opened the meeting by explaining the process behind this $10,000 grant through Emory University Department of Pediatrics Urban Health Planning and how the Y.E.S. Team has agreed to take the lead on submitting this strategy planning proposal after speaking with School Superintendent Dr. Michael Duncan several months ago about the idea of a school-based health center. “The grant provides the YES Team with technical assistance and training to convene a strategy planning team comprised of Medical, Dental, Vision, Health, Education and Mental Health providers, along with parents, the school nurses and school administration,” he said to those assembled at the lunch and learn.
Mr. Powell advised that the first step in this process will be integrating a school-based health center within the Primary School. “The most important component of the day and future meetings is to work in partnership as we move forward in the process of bringing our ideas to reality… While all of us are in a learning mode with more questions than answers today, your involvement as a community partner is critical to the future success of a School Based Health Center for our community.” This was the first in a series of meetings that will continue through next year. Mr. Powell invited community members present at the Lunch and Learn to become part of the Strategy Planning Team by attending the first strategy planning meeting on January 12, 2012.
Dr. Veda Johnson, who is a pediatrician by training, social worker, and been involved in health centers for the past 17 or 18 years, gave an overview of the school-based health center program. There are over 2,000 school health clinics nation-wide with 245 in Florida, 206 in New York, 160 in California, 64 in Louisiana, 49 in North Carolina and 31 in Mississippi. Dr. Veda Johnson said that there were only two school-based health centers from 1994 through 2009 and there are currently four full-time and one part-time school-based health centers in the state of Georgia. She stated that health and success in schools are related and that students learn best when they are healthy, present in class, and emotionally and socially connected. “This will improve school attendance-especially for children with chronic diseases such as asthma, diabetes, and behavioral disorders,” she said.
Services that could be provided by a school-based health center include: primary care, mental health care, and oral health care screening and treatment, physical exams and sports physicals, prescription and dispensing of medication, conducting of clinical and lab tests, immunizations, and treatment of chronic illnesses. Public and private insurance would be billed for reimbursable services. A school-based health center would work with the school nurse to enhance students' health, academic outcomes, and overall well-being as well as reducing emergency room visits and hospitalizations. National Assembly on School-Based Health Care
Of the 52% of parents at Pike County Primary School who participated in a survey about a school-based health center, 79.5% said that they would definitely or would probably use services provided by a school-based health center. 96.6% of those surveyed had health insurance, Medicaid, Peachcare, or Social Security, but 50.4% said that they had no one to go to for counseling services for behavioral problems, and 11.1% had problems getting health care, mental health or dental care.
Dr. Johnson said that this program will provide a comprehensive range of services that will meet specific physical and behavioral health needs in the school and community through a wide range of providers working together. Before this school-based health center can become a reality, priorities will have to be set as to how it will work. This will include an advisory board composed of community representatives, parents, youth and family to provide oversight and direction about the plan of how services will be provided through the school-based health center.
Edd Sanders, Chair of the Pike County DFACS Board of Directors, gave the call to action at the end of the meeting. “I can’t see a reason not to do this,” he said. “This my hometown, full of caring people with incredible talents and good hearts… These are my children, your children, grandchildren, nieces and nephews. Don’t the deserve the best we can give them?”
The Y.E.S. Team is looking for a team of volunteers to serve on the planning team. Volunteers can include health care providers, parents, and community leaders who will work with the school system to develop a plan for this school-based health center. If you are interested in being a part of this team, please contact Michael Powell, Executive Director of Pike County’s You Equal Success (Y.E.S.) Team, Inc. at 770-567-2930 or by email at powellm@pike.k12.ga.us.
The next meeting will be held on January 12, 2012 from 12 noon to 1:30 p.m. at the Professional Learning Center Meeting Room #2 located in the old Pike County Middle/High School (next to Ruth's Restaurant). The program is presented by the Pike Community Resource Network which is part of the Georgia Family Connection partnership of county collaboratives committed to cultivating public and private collaboration at a local level. RSVP by January 9, 2011 to Michael Powell at 770-567-2930 or powellm@pike.k12.ga.us.
Click here to read the December 1, 2011 article about this Lunch and Learn and link to information that was distributed to the Pike County Board of Commissioners in the November night meeting.
Additional Resources:
REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS - Comprehensive School-Based Health Clinic Program