School-Based Health Center a prescription for success

Dr. Adnan Munir consults with Michelle Wood and her daughter, Andrea, at TRC’s Health Services office.  The School-Based Health Center works with a student’s primary care physician to ensure continuity of care.

For decades, when a student felt sick at school, he or she would make the long, painful trip down the hall to the nurse’s office, usually mopey-faced and holding his or her head or stomach.  And while some felt miraculously better once Mom or Dad picked them up and took them home, many had a legitimate illness that often required further medical attention beyond a nurse’s care.

Well, now that care can be found right at school.  It’s called a School-Based Health Center, and they are located all across the country.  In Chautauqua County, there are two School-Based Health Centers – one is located inside Jamestown High School, while the other is located at Pine Valley Central School.  Both facilities are operated by The Resource Center.

February is National School-Based Health Center Awareness Month.  School-Based Health Centers are lauded for several reasons.  They result in improved health and educational outcomes for students, who don’t have to leave the school premises to receive health care.  And that also means parents don’t have to take time off from work to take their children to a doctor’s office.

 “Oh, yes, it’s very convenient.  My daughter can make an appointment during a free period and doesn’t have to miss class,” said Michelle Wood of Jamestown.  Her daughter Andrea, a 17-year-old senior at JHS, has visits the health center whenever necessary.  Another daughter, Julia, who graduated in 2009, used the center as well.

In fact, about 1,000 students are enrolled in the Jamestown School-Based Health Center.  There is no fee to join, and there is no cost to parents at all.  The SBHC simply bills the parent’s insurance company, and there is no out-of-pocket expense.  Even those without health insurance, who need immediate care, are not turned away.  That’s one of the reasons why the health center relies on grant funding and donations to help keep it financially healthy. 

“The School-Based Health Center provides a higher level of care than the nurse’s office can, and it can prescribe medication if necessary,” Ms. Wood said.  “If something happens, care is readily available, and we don’t have to wait to get to the E/R or to see our regular family doctor.”

In Ms. Wood’s case, her family doctor, Dr. Adnan Munir, is a physician at The Resource Center’s Primary Care office.

“So, that’s an additional benefit to have that continuity,” said Ms. Wood, “so if there was anything serious, I know our doctor is directly involved.”

For Ms. Wood, the convenience doesn’t end there.

“For starters, I don’t have to miss work to take her to the doctor, and knowing she doesn’t have to miss class is a real plus for both child and parent,” she said.

Ms. Wood also encourages others to share that piece of mind and enroll their children.

“I have no concerns at all, and if there’s something people need, the center will refer them to another resource so it won’t leave people without the necessary treatment.  They are an excellent provider of resources, and I don’t know why anybody wouldn’t enroll.”

The Resource Center also is in the process of developing a School-Based Health Center at Pine Valley Central School.

Debbie Piotrowski, a Family Nurse Practitioner, sees students at the Jamestown School-Based Health Center.  She consults with Dr. Thomas Putnam, who also is the physician who sees children at the Pine Valley School-Based Health Center.

For more information, phone The Resource Center at (716) 483-2344.