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Princeton district moves toward ‘TigerCare’ school‑based clinics using telehealth; board asks to place program on agenda
Summary
The district nurse and clinical partners proposed ‘TigerCare,’ a telehealth‑enabled school‑based health clinic model in partnership with Advocate Urgent Care and local clinicians, intended to provide urgent‑care services and reduce missed school time; presenters said start‑up equipment would be funded by partners and the program could be piloted this fall pending approvals.
District nurse Nicole Wagonowski told the Princeton Public School District board the administration and clinical partners are proposing a school‑based health clinic program called “TigerCare” that would deliver urgent‑care services and telehealth to students and staff at district sites.
Wagonowski said the program would be a partnership between Princeton Public Schools and Advocate (Urgent Care) with additional clinical support from local physicians. She described telehealth equipment capable of transmitting lung sounds, oxygen saturation and visual exams to an off‑site physician and said on‑site health office staff would assist the telehealth visits. Parents would be offered the option to join telehealth calls; the program’s scope would initially target common urgent needs (strep, influenza, RSV, simple urinalysis) and exclude trauma or major injuries.
Connie from the School‑Based Health Alliance (speaker 11) said Minnesota has a long history of school‑based clinics and that there are 29 clinics in the state; presenters said Princeton would be among the first in its northwest region. Dr. Paul Allegra (speaker 12), an emergency physician working with the partner clinic, and Dr. Jeremy Peterson (speaker 9) said telehealth plus modern rapid testing platforms make an urgent‑care‑style clinic feasible and that startup could be possible this fall if equipment and compliance paperwork are completed.
On funding, presenters said Advocate would provide start‑up equipment funding and that billing (Medicaid and insured visits) could generate operational revenue handled by the clinic and overseen by a committee; many SBHCs rely on grants for sustainability. Connie noted the state had new grant funding waves and cited approximately $5,000,000 in planned grant dollars available in a later wave, though she said some grants open only at specific cycles.
Superintendent Ben and board members focused questions on parental consent, communications and nurse workload. The board requested the TigerCare presentation be placed on a future board agenda for formal review; administration said it will return with the presentation materials, consent forms and proposed agreements for board consideration.
No contract or budget appropriation was approved at this meeting; presenters emphasized the goal of keeping the district dollar commitment minimal and using partner start‑up funds and grants to launch and grow the model.
