(by Matt Pedigo, The Citizen-Times, Used with permission)
After a highly-successful trial run at Allen County-Scottsville High School, a school-based medical clinic is also coming to Allen County Primary Center.
In partnership with the Med Center Primary Care Clinic, ACPC will host a 670 square-foot version of the high school’s popular Patriot Clinic, which has seen heavy visitation. Like the Patriot Clinic, the ACPC clinic will be under the direction of a local veteran health care provider, Linda Stovall, APRN. The space includes two rooms, with a new wall installed for that purpose. The space is divided roughly equally between a waiting room/reception area and the clinic and examination rooms. The clinic is located on the first floor, just down the hall and a left turn from the main office.
The new ACPC clinic will mean all-day access to health care on campus, said Allen County Schools Assistant Superintendent of Operations Brian Carter. The ACPC clinic will be open from 7:30 to 11:30 a.m. on Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays. The Patriot Clinic at AC-S—which also serves James E. Bazzell Middle School students and staff—is open from 12:30 until 4:30 p.m. on the same days.
The medical services aren’t free; they are billed just as they would be at any other off-campus Med Center facility. The school district is only providing space. However, Carter said, where parents, faculty and the District itself see major savings is in the convenience of the child not having to leave school for an appointment, a parent not having to take off work to take the child to an appointment and teachers not having to miss work for minor illnesses.
If a student or faculty member is diagnosed with a non-contagious illness—such as a sinus infection, for one common example—he or she can get a shot in the clinic office, then go right back to class and pick up prescribed medications after school.
“We found at the high school that teachers, instead of taking a half-day off to go to the doctor, were in and out (of the Patriot Clinic) in 30 minutes,” Carter said. “It really helps cut back on teacher absences and also student absences.”
The numbers show frequent usage. Carter noted that since the AC-S clinic opened in December of 2017, it has seen 1,859 student visitations, 1,303 visitations by active faculty members and 508 visitations by retired school staff, who can also use the clinics. That’s a total of 3,670 visitations in 1.5 school years—with a clinic that’s only open half a school day.
That showed the clinics would be used, Carter said, and administrators had also noted a need for ACPC and Allen County Intermediate Center to shorten the journey and provide better access for students and faculty utilizing the in-school clinic.
Cater said the Med Center services on campus have proven to be a strong factor in reducing students and faculty absence rates. Among patients, they’ve been well-received.
“They (the Med Center) have been a great partner for us,” Carter said. “We look forward to working with them for our new Primary Center clinic.”