ADAMS TOWNSHIP — Rehab work has begun to transform part of the Clinton-Massie annex facility into an on-campus health center.
The hope is to have the school-based health center (SBHC) open at the start of the 2022-2023 school year, said Clinton-Massie Superintendent Matt Baker.
The SBHC on campus will serve students, staff, as well as community members.
“Think of it as an urgent care inside of the annex,” Baker said.
“We have seen through the pandemic that an on-campus health facility will be helpful for both staff and students. By providing service also to our community members, this project helps bring the [school] board’s desire to be the community center to a deeper reality,” added the superintendent.
There are more than 2,500 SBHCs throughout the United States on or near school campuses. School-based health centers have emerged over the past 50 years as “a cost-effective service delivery model that improves health care access and outcomes for youth,” according to the professional Journal of Adolescent Health.
Federal grant funds are being used to renovate annex space for the health center — not local tax dollars, emphasized Baker.
“Local taxpayer dollars will not be used to rehab, staff, or to purchase supplies for the area. We want to make this a benefit to our staff, students, and community with no excess burden on our already supportive taxpayers,” he said.
Over the past two years, Clinton-Massie has worked with Interact for Health, a nonprofit out of Cincinnati, to bring a school-based health center on campus.
Clinton-Massie has chosen Greater Tomorrow Health as the service provider who will lease the space from the school district.
“Carrie Fairchild, the owner of Greater Tomorrow Health, is a Clinton-Massie resident. She and I are very excited about this relationship,” said Baker.
“This will be a great thing for the school district and the community,” the superintendent said. “Thank you to all that have helped us get this far.”
