COOPERSTOWN — The National School-Based Health Alliance honored Bassett Healthcare Network’s School-Based Health Program Practice Manager Jane Hamilton with its 2024 Lifetime Achievement Award, presented on July 2. The award celebrates a leader who has demonstrated a strong commitment to making an impact on school-based health. “I cannot think of a more deserving person for […]
COOPERSTOWN — The National School-Based Health Alliance honored Bassett Healthcare Network’s School-Based Health Program Practice Manager Jane Hamilton with its 2024 Lifetime Achievement Award, presented on July 2.
The award celebrates a leader who has demonstrated a strong commitment to making an impact on school-based health.
“I cannot think of a more deserving person for this award than Jane,” William Fredette, program co-director, said in a news release. “She pours her heart and soul every day into making this program a part of the fabric of our schools and communities. Because of Jane’s remarkable dedication, our communities and children are healthier.”
Hamilton helped establish Bassett’s program when it opened its first clinic in 1992. Since then, she has helped expand and develop the program to include 22 clinics across 18 school districts. The program serves more than 7,000 students who receive medical, dental, and mental health care at no out-of-pocket cost to families.
“Bassett’s School-Based Health Program is not only connecting children and families with needed care; it is teaching children how to be good health consumers,” Hamilton said. “School-based health helps kids understand the responsibility they have to take care of themselves, what to expect from a health-care provider, and empowers them to be their own advocates and become healthy adults.”
Services are available for students in pre-kindergarten through grade 12. Bassett’s program is the largest rural program of its kind in the state and works to overcome barriers to care in rural areas including lack of insurance, lack of transportation, and other socioeconomic factors, the release stated.
The first center opened more than 30 years ago in Delhi. “Today we are caring for the children of the students who were first in our care, and few things are more rewarding than seeing the next generation of patients build healthy lives,” Hamilton said.
The program is one offering of Bassett Healthcare Network, which also operates five hospitals, more than two dozen community-based health centers, and two skilled-nursing facilities.
