Corwell Health outlines free school-based clinic services for Romulus students and community

Corwell Health told the Romulus Community Schools Board of Education on May 27 that its school-based clinic at Romulus High School provides comprehensive medical and mental-health services for adolescents and will expand its age range to include younger children before the next school year.

The presentation matters because the clinic offers low- or no-cost primary and behavioral health care on-site and to the surrounding community, which board members said could reduce health-related barriers to student attendance and learning.

Teresa Donahue, representing Corwell Health, said the clinic currently serves people ages 10 to 21 (and up to 26 for those with special-education eligibility), is open year-round and operates 40 hours a week with at least one late day and a half day on Friday. Donahue said services include immunizations, sports and annual physicals, sick and well visits, injury care provided by a nurse practitioner, and on-site mental-health therapy provided by a licensed social-work therapist. She said the clinic is grant-funded by the State of Michigan and that families without insurance are not billed; when insurance is billed any remaining balance is written off by Corwell Health.

Donahue said Corwell Health is transitioning marketing responsibilities from its previous fiduciary and now benefits from centralized marketing support; she said the Corwell system now operates 10 school-based clinics, including a clinic that opened last month at Harper Woods High School. She also said Corwell Health and state officials are working to lower the clinic’s minimum service age to 5, with that change expected in August or September.

Board members asked how Corwell Health publicizes services and how families are enrolled. Donahue said clinic staff attend school events such as back-to-school nights and parent-teacher conferences, run a student youth advisory council that conducts outreach, participate in health fairs, hold quarterly community advisory council meetings that approve required site policies, and will use Corwell Health marketing to increase outreach. She said the community advisory council meets virtually or in person, helps review bylaws and four state-mandated clinic policies annually, and can propose community education offerings such as Naloxone (Narcan) or Stop the Bleed trainings.

Donahue said there is no co-pay for clinic visits; the clinic will bill insurance where available and assist families with Medicaid enrollment to reduce barriers to care. She said Corwell Health’s oldest school-based clinic dates to the 1980s and that the organization is one of several fiduciaries operating more than 300 school-based clinics across Michigan.

Board members and Corwell Health agreed the clinic’s community advisory work and student outreach are central to increasing awareness of services. Donahue invited board members and families to visit the recently renovated clinic.