Clinic opened through CHWP collaboration
A number of Benjamin Logan students and staff members alike have already been cared for in a timely and compassionate manner during the last month following the opening of the district’s new school-based health care center through a partnership with Community Health & Wellness Partners.
uperintendent John Scheu shared Wednesday during a ribbon cutting ceremony to celebrate the clinic, located at Benjamin Logan Elementary School, that he personally was able to utilize clinic services to complete the required physical to serve as a van driver for the district.
“It was such a wonderful service, being able to take care of everything here and not having to schedule time off work or to have to hurry to an appointment,” he said.
“That is the convenience of quality health care right here on our campus. For some members of our staff, they have been able to receive their booster shots without having to schedule outside of their work day, and our students and parents have access to care right here on campus as well.
“This is a really exciting time in our district. We’re looking forward to growing and expanding the program as well.”
Community Health & Wellness Partners President/CEO Tara Bair said the school-based center is CHWP’s first program to open in Logan County, following its opening of the school-based center at West Liberty-Salem Schools last school year.
“Patients give us purpose,” said Bair. “We are so appreciative for the warm welcome.
“School-based health centers improve access to care and play a key role in helping families manage the health care needs of their children. We are proud to be partnering with Benjamin Logan Schools and offering this important service to their district.
“As a 1984 Benjamin Logan graduate myself, it is a wonderful feeling to be here and to have your support after all of these years. This is the district where my children attended, and now my grandchildren attend here,” she said, while also accompanied by her granddaughter Avery Bair for the event.
Avery’s BLES peers Hai Long Le, Gabriel Douglas and Brooks Bodin also joined in to help cut the ribbon for the ceremony, alongside district officials, faculty and board of education, CHWP staff and local elected officials.
The health center officially opened Jan. 3, with Paula Strebig, Certified Nurse Practitioner, serving as the primary care provider.
In addition, the district also partnered with CHWP in the fall to open a behavioral health clinic at Benjamin Logan Middle School, which is available to district students, staff and parents as well. Emily Pool, LISW-S, a therapist with CHWP, provides behavioral health services there.
Strebig has served with CHWP for 3 1/2 years. A 30-year Logan County resident, she previously taught at the Nancy J. Knight School of Nursing at the Ohio Hi-Point Career Center.
Since the clinic’s opening, Strebig said she has treated patients for a gamut of health care needs, including “teachers with sinus infections, a student with an eye infection who needed eye drops, providing physicals for staff members and administering COVID tests.
“We’ve had a good first month,” she said. “We’re planning to expand our hours here, and we are growing even just by word of mouth.”
She noted that there are a variety of other tests that can be performed in the clinic, such as for strep, mono and for urinary tract infections. Prescriptions then can be sent to a pharmacy when needed.
“It’s has been really nice for parents to be able to pick up a prescription for their child, so it’s ready right after school,” Strebig said.
Officials related that the school-based health center is not a replacement for anyone’s primary health care provider, but instead provides a convenient way for students and faculty to remain in school while receiving the care they need.
With CHWP’s Team Care model, Amanda Siefring, RN, Benjamin Logan’s district nurse, continues to provide school nursing services for district students in all grade levels.
If or when necessary, and with parental consent, Siefring can refer to students to Strebig for care beyond school nursing, such as testing diagnosis and treatment of illness, physicals or other primary care needs.
Additional services such management of chronic diseases, nutrition, pharmacy, and behavioral health are also available through the school-based clinic. Families also maintain complete control over what health services their children receive or do not receive, officials noted.
Strebig and Pool’s care can be billed through insurances, or a sliding-fee scale is available for those who qualify.
Learning is more effective if students are present in class, healthy and engaged, officials related. School-based health centers help to minimize the time children are out of class and maximize the amount of time they spend learning.
Studies have shown that students who receive school-based health care also have fewer long-term health issues and experience improved academic outcomes.
“We believe that having this convenient clinic staffed with professionals will result in healthier students and staff,” Scheu said.