School Health Program

By Jamie Cetrone | Categories: | Comments Off on School Health Program

Many children in the Cleveland Metropolitan School District (CMSD) lacked easy access to health care. MetroHealth launched the School Health Program (SHP) in November 2013 to bring primary care health services to children at their schools, initially serving two schools. Now, in the fourth year, the mobile unit travels to three high schools and nine elementary schools. The program also serves one CMSD site via an in-school clinic.

The goals are creating healthy schools with wellness programming, improving school attendance, growing the program, and becoming more sustainable with patient-based revenue, all with the aim of population health.

Nearly 100 percent of CMSD students are eligible for free or reduced-price lunch. A graduation rate of 64 percent and chronic absenteeism rate of 35 percent are the result of the many challenges students face. By providing services at schools, the SHP eliminates many of the barriers to receiving health care. The SHP has a medical director, behavioral health director, APRNs, physicians, program directors that are medical assistants, and a mobile van driver. It connects students and their families with primary care providers in Patient Centered Medical Homes (PCMHs) across The MetroHealth System. Operating resources are a mix of patient revenue, institutional support, grants, and individual philanthropy.

Our partnerships have resulted in a variety of education and engagement opportunities for our CMSD sites. The SHP collaborates closely with internal MetroHealth departments including the Aamoth Family Pediatric Wellness Center, Trauma Department and Arts in Medicine to provide wellness services to students, staff, and families. Programs and activities include fitness breaks, safety towns, art classes focused on social and emotional learning, and introduction of the #BeWell campaign across sites. Externally, the SHP has partnered with the Cleveland Foodbank to provide health screenings at schools. The SHP also serves as a site to train child health professionals – including students in nursing, public health, community health, social work, and medical residents and students.

The SHP provides valuable care coordination in the management of chronic conditions such as asthma and diabetes. Working with families, school nurses, SHP providers, primary care providers and specialists has produced significant documented improvements in population health outcomes. Care coordination, along with convenient services and proactive outreach, has increased utilization of preventive services and completion of immunizations more successfully when compared to state and national Medicaid populations.