Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the School Health topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
ETHS school-based health center reports nearly 2,000 visits last year and expands mental-health services
Summary
School-based health center staff told the board the clinic provided over 2,000 visits last year (800 students served), continues on-site psychiatry through a Bridges partnership, offers reproductive health and confidential services, and plans to add an on-site dietitian to broaden care.
Representatives from the ETHS school-based health center briefed the board on March 9 about services and recent growth, highlighting primary care, reproductive health, and mental-health expansion.
Reena, the health center’s lead nurse, said the center functions as an on-campus primary care clinic—offering physicals, vaccines, reproductive care, urgent visits and behavioral health—and has served roughly 800 unique students with over 2,000 visits last school year. She said the center’s model reduces missed school and parent work time and increases access for uninsured and Medicaid-covered students.
Medical director Amy Crow described clinical partnerships that support services the center cannot provide on-site (for example, placement of long-acting contraceptives through a nearby Erie Health clinic) and noted integrated programs such as sports medicine, acupuncture, and a newly developed partnership with Endeavor Health dietitians that will bring a weekly on-site dietitian focused on eating disorders and metabolic risks.
The board heard that the center has added on-site psychiatry through Endeavor’s Bridges program, enabling psychiatric evaluations and treatment with much shorter wait times than external referrals. Staff reported roughly 350 mental-health sessions last year with 43 different students in a constrained space; adding psychiatry aims to reduce emergency department use and long referral waits.
Staff emphasized confidentiality rules under Illinois law and noted efforts to increase family access (digital consent forms in progress; paper PDFs currently available). Reena said translation resources are available via Endeavor Health devices and multiple Spanish-speaking staff assist families. The center also offers free and confidential contraceptive options (all forms except long-acting devices), STI testing and treatment, and partner treatment services.
Board members praised the center’s work, asked about trends since COVID, and were told the clinic continues to address elevated mental-health needs and to expand wraparound supports. The board thanked the team for the 30th-anniversary service milestone and for on-site efforts to reach uninsured students.
