SANDUSKY, OH | Tom Jackson | July 14, 2019
Original article can be found at: http://www.sanduskyregister.com
SANDUSKY — Expanding from its main location at the health department, the Erie County Community Health Center plans to open other clinics at three county locations.
The health clinic plans to open school-based health centers at the beginning of the 2019-2020 school year at two locations, Vermilion schools and EHOVE, although construction at the clinics likely won’t be done until October, said Pete Schade, Erie County’s health commissioner.
Schade said construction for a satellite clinic at the Erie County Job and Family Services building, 221 W. Parish St., is complete. The clinic will open as soon as the federal government gives permission for the expansion of the scope of the Erie County Community Health Center, Schade said.
“I’d be happy to get it in a week so we can start in July,” Schade said.
Schade said he also has been talking with Sandusky’s school system about establishing a school based health center in Sandusky.
Schade said construction in Vermilion and at EHOVE is costing about $30,000 for each project, with the schools providing space and covering some of the construction costs.
The plan is to offer primary health care, dental care (from the health department’s mobile dental van) and mental health care, in a partnership with OhioGuidestone, a mental health care and foster care organization based in Berea.
While the initial focus at the school centers will be on helping students and other people in the school buildings, the school-based health centers also are meant to provide care to the community. Each center will have an entrance that allows people to come and go without having to go through the school building, Schade said.
Similarly, while the satellite clinic at Job and Family Services is meant to serve the clients of the agency, it also will provide care for people in the neighborhood who find it convenient, Schade said.
Eugene Sanders, the CEO for Sandusky’s school system, and Stephen Sturgill, Sanders’ chief of staff, confirmed this week they’ve been talking about offering clinics and are looking at the high school as a possible location.
Sanders said he’s been speaking both to officials at the Erie County Community Health Center and at Family Health Services, Erie County’s other community health center.
The Erie County Community Health Center is a Federally Qualified Health Center. Federally Qualified Health Centers are a network of community clinics, funded by the federal government, which provide affordable health care. Sandusky has two FQHC clinics, the one at the health department and Family Health Services, located on the south campus of Firelands Regional Medical Center.
Students and teachers would be the first priority at a school-based clinic, but the school district is open to allowing other patients to use the clinic, Sturgill said.
Sanders said assistance in caring for students also may be coming from the state.
The state budget is making its way through the Ohio General Assembly and is scheduled to be approved by the end of June. Sanders said it contains funding for school districts to provide wraparound services for students, helping them be well enough to learn while at school.
Share this Post
