COOPERSTOWN, N.Y. — It’s been 30 years since Bassett Healthcare Network launched its first school-based health clinic at Delaware Academy Central School in Delhi. Today, the program includes 21 clinics in 17 school districts across four counties, with more than 7,000 children enrolled in the program. Later this year, Bassett will open its 22nd clinic […]
COOPERSTOWN, N.Y. — It’s been 30 years since Bassett Healthcare Network launched its first school-based health clinic at Delaware Academy Central School in Delhi. Today, the program includes 21 clinics in 17 school districts across four counties, with more than 7,000 children enrolled in the program.
Later this year, Bassett will open its 22nd clinic in its 18th school district — the Cherry Valley-Springfield Central School District.
“Schools come to us,” says Jane Hamilton, RN, school-based health practice manager at Bassett. “We don’t seek them out.” Schools do need to meet certain space specifications in order to have a clinic, do all the necessary renovations to the space, and secure funding for the first few years the clinic is open to cover operating costs, she adds. Bassett, in turn, will hire a team to staff the clinic.
Hamilton anticipates the newest clinic will open in the fourth quarter.
The school-based clinics, located in areas where many children live at or below the poverty level, provide primary health services to students enrolled in the program. The enrollment process is as easy as filling out some paperwork, providing insurance information if there is any, and consenting to Bassett treating the child.
The clinics tackle two big concerns head on, says Dr. Chris Kjolhede, co-director of the program. Those concerns — or barriers to care — are poverty and transportation.
By locating clinics directly in the schools in low-income areas, Bassett removes both of those barriers. “The bus drives the kids to the school every day and drives them home,” Kjolhede says.
This access to care is also a big benefit to the region’s employers as parents do not need to take time off of work to take their children to the doctor for routine care like check-ups or immunizations. Those can all be managed at the clinic without parents being present.
The clinics are really about prevention and education, Hamilton says. For example, clinic staff are working to educate parents on the HPV vaccine, which can help prevent oral cancer.
According to Kjolhede, a survey showed that as many as 35 percent of parents in New York don’t believe in required vaccines. So that education component, especially regarding vaccine safety and effectiveness, is important.
The clinics also provide access to dental and mental-health care. Many of the clinics are using technology to connect students with care for medication follow-ups, concussion clearance, and ongoing management of certain chronic conditions, such as asthma via tele-visits, Hamilton says. This eliminates the need for parents to transport their children, sometimes two or more hours away, for these types of specialist appointments.
Kjolhede says Bassett sometimes encounters concerns about the clinics, particularly that they might replace school nurses or take patients away from other primary-care providers. Neither is true, he says. The clinics work hand-in-hand with the school nurses, who provide a different service to students.
As for other primary-care providers, Kjolhede says Bassett tries to collaborate with them to ensure all children have timely access to care. “Any care is better than no care, and some of these kids would get no care,” if the clinics weren’t there, he contends.