Students at Roosevelt High School in St. Louis can now access medical care through an in-school health clinic.
The clinic is operated by Mercy Hospital and received funding through $500,000 grant from Boeing.
Crystal Gale is the Principal of Roosevelt High. She says the facility will provide basic medical services for students, as well as the children of students.
“On a daily basis the student has the opportunity to come down and book an appointment for sports physical, any kinds of vaccines that they may need, any kinds of breathing, respiratory, asthma problems,” Gale says.
The clinic will be staffed by a family nurse practitioner. Kathleen Woods is the nurse in charge of the clinic. She says the facility will provide basic medical services many students currently aren’t accessing.
“One of the purposes of the school-based clinic is to keep the kids in school.” Woods says. “You know healthy kids learn more. Underserved kids sometimes just don’t have the opportunity to go a provider who will provide care whether they have insurance or don’t have insurance.”
There are around 2,400 medical clinics in schools across the country. Woods says St. Louis has been slow to adopt the trend.
In addition to medical care, the clinic will also provide mental health services and eventually dental care.
The clinic will not provide birth control for students, as Missouri law mandates abstinence-based sex education.
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