Community Health & Wellness Partners has partnered with West Liberty-Salem Local Schools to open an on-site, school-based health center, which was celebrated with a ribbon cutting Tuesday morning.
The health center officially opened Tuesday and is staffed by the school’s nurse, Jennifer Douthwaite, a certified nurse practitioner (CNP), and Beth Wing, a licensed practicing nurse (LPN). Both are employees of CHWP.
Students may visit the school-based health center for any and all issues normally handled by the school nurse. In addition, pupils and West Liberty-Salem faculty can visit the center for other primary care needs, such as regular check-ups, prescriptions, and appointments to address injuries or the onset of other health issues.
The school-based health center is not a replacement for anyone’s primary health care provider, but instead provides an additional, optional touchpoint for students and faculty to receive health support and ensure they meet treatment schedules.
Because the school-based health center’s nurses are part of the CHWP team, they will follow CHWP’s Team Care model, which integrates services such as management of chronic diseases, nutrition, pharmacy and behavioral health.
“Having a health center located on-site at our school is a big step forward in keeping our students healthy. It will minimize the time out of class needed for students to manage any health issues they have,” Kraig Hissong, superintendent of West Liberty-Salem Local Schools, said in a release. “This will help our students improve their academic results, and by paying more attention to their health at a time and place that is convenient, we expect them to have better long-term health outcomes as well.”
“School-based health centers can play an important role in helping families manage the physical and mental health needs of their children,” said Tara Bair, president and CEO of Community Health and Wellness Partners, an independent, nonprofit health center that provides primary care and other wellness services to the residents of Logan and surrounding counties.
“We are proud to be partnering with West Liberty Salem Local Schools to offer this important and needed service for their students and faculty.”
School-based health care connects students to health care providers in a way that minimizes overall disruption to their instructional time — including tardiness or early dismissals.
At the same time, the health center can help maximize the amount of time students spend learning while healthy and engaged. Studies have shown that students who receive school-based health care also have fewer long-term health issues and experience improved academic outcomes, including better graduation rates, improved grade promotion, lower rates of absenteeism, tardiness, withdrawals, dropouts, failing grades, and fewer disciplinary problems, officials related.
Teachers can support school-based health initiatives by alerting providers of possible student health issues to help students receive care when the need is greatest.
Having a health care center on-site at a school offers a convenient way for parents to have their child seen by a provider. A school-based health center also provides a consistent care provider relationship, reducing the need for parents to switch health care providers to fit their schedules or changes in health insurance.
Families also maintain complete control over what health services their children receive or do not receive, officials said. The school-based health center at West Liberty-Salem Schools provides access to health care for all children whose parents have given permission, regardless of insurance coverage or ability to pay.
“When parents give permission for their children to be seen at a school-based health center, they know they will not have to miss work to care for minor problems,” officials said in a release. “They also know that their children will receive prompt attention from health care providers trained at working with youth.”
Hours at the health center are 7:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Monday through Friday. After school on-call services also are available at CHWP Bellefontaine and West Liberty offices.