Sean C. Morgan
Of The New Era
School District 55 and Linn County Health Department will host a community forum on June 22 in the high school cafeteria on a proposal to establish a school-based health clinic.
The proposal prompted one parent to voice concerns about the clinic to the District 55 School Board at its May 15 meeting. Al Grove questioned the purpose and the support for such a clinic in Sweet Home. He also asked why the district has not done a better job of making community residents aware of the proposal.
The feasibility of establishing such as center is being studied by Linn County Health together with the school district and Samaritan Health Services, using a $30,000 grant from the Oregon Department of Human Services.
“In July, we’ll apply for an implementation grant to make this thing work,” said Anne Peltier, Linn County public health program manager.
A committee, including representatives from each partner, will submit a report about community support and where money will come from to fund the clinic.
Two of three counties that have received the planning grant will receive an implementation grant of approximately $50,000, Peltier said. The county that does not receive the grant will receive technical assistance and probably receive funding the following year.
“From our statistics and anecdotal information, we think the community wants and needs it,” Peltier said.
The clinic will have an on-site medical provider, Peltier said. A mental health professional also will be available.
According to DHS, Oregon has 45 school-based health centers, which provide comprehensive physical, mental and preventive health services to area youth in a school setting.
The clinics are intended to serve children who otherwise would not get care, help students get back to the classroom faster, decrease the demand on parents to take time off to get children well and improve student health. They are located in elementary, middle and high schools.
Services they offer include: routine physical exams; sports physicals; diagnosis and treatment of acute and chronic illness; prescriptions; treatment for minor injuries; vision, dental and blood pressure screenings; immunizations; health education, counseling and wellness promotion; mental health; and classroom presentations on health and wellness.
Funding is annual, according to DHS information on the program. The county will receive $50,000 for the program under a formula implemented last year. Each state dollar is supposed to leverage $3 to $4 from local sources, including schools, hospitals, local providers, individuals and other sources. The average center costs $150,000 to $250,000 per year.
Grove raised four concerns before the School Board at its May 15 meeting.
First, he said, he is concerned that the district does not have space for a school-based clinic with a growing student population. Sweet Home has some 1,200 new lots with another 66-lot subdivision that went before the Planning Commission on Monday.
Second, he asked about long-term funding for the clinic. Materials he has read suggest the clinics do not leverage the money DHS claims.
Third, the clinic will duplicate services, including the county health clinic and the local Samaritan clinic.
The clinic will provide immunizations, physicals and mental health services, he said, “a lot of the same services that are available at the county health clinic.”
Fourth, he thinks the clinic will be required by law to provide family planning.
County officials say that won’t be part of the clinic, but Grove thinks it would be required.
Youth may be able to get the service at the county clinic now, “but it’s not in our schools right now,” Grove said. Pregnancy tests are offered at the health clinic and at the Sweet Home Pregnancy Center.
“This is at the high school, the most mobile population we have,” Grove said. A Crawfordsville student coming to the clinic will be driven right past the county clinic on the way in.
“If they do come in, does the board have any control left?” Grove asked. The professionals working in the clinic will not be district employees, but rather county and Samaritan employees.
If it really is as good a program as claimed, he wanted to know why the public meeting on it wasn’t held before the School Board agreed to this planning process.
“My number-one concern is that all this happened without any public input,” Grove said.
The forum will be from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. Thursday, June 22, in the high school cafeteria.