Dear Parents and Guardians of the Cle Elum-Roslyn School District,
The Cle Elum-Roslyn School District is interested in partnering with Community Health of Central Washington to provide a school-based health clinic (SBHC) at no employee costs to the District. There are over 70 school based health clinics in the state of Washington, most of which are partnered with federally qualified health centers. The goal with a school-based health clinic is to reduce absenteeism and improve academic performance by enhancing access to healthcare. Data shows health disparities affect educational outcomes and our students deserve the best care possible. By improving age-appropriate access to healthcare for all we can help bridge the educational achievement gap. For more information about SBHC please visit: https://wasbha.org/. Currently upper county has no Medicaid dental providers. With nearly 40% of our population receiving free and reduced lunch, this is an important service school based health clinics can provide at no cost or reduced cost, and save the long drive to providers that are usually out of reach for families in Upper Valley.
The cost of the clinic is fully funded by the health center partner. We know that access to healthcare providers is limited in a rural community. Providing this service in schools allows for easier access for parents that would like their children to receive care, by parent permission only. There is no one model or set of services that a SBHC can or must provide. Each is built around the unique needs and wants of their school community. Our initial thoughts are to provide services to all students and staff of the Cle Elum-Roslyn School District that have completed the registration process for their student. The district is not considering offering reproductive services.
School nurses in the state of Washington are allowed to provide basic first aid and referral to advanced care providers. This partnership would allow the connection of services needed for each individual student without long delays to services. The following services are options and are looked at as current needs of the district: Preventative dental, concussion assessment, injury assessment, urgent care services, mental health services, athletic services, sports physicals, and new student care.
We are currently considering utilizing the house located on 903 northwest of the high school building currently used by Technology. This allows for service availability outside of school hours, enhanced patient privacy, ADA compliance, and space for expanded services if desired and needed. It is the least disruptive to the academic spaces.
We value your opinion on a school based health clinic for our community. Please complete the following questionnaire (click here to access the survey) so that we can gauge the services to provide and community needs.
Appreciatively,
John Belcher “JB”
Superintendent
Cle Elum-Roslyn School District