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ETHS board hears report on school-based health center's growth, mental-health and new services
Summary
School-based health center staff told the board the clinic logged over 2,000 visits by 800 students last school year and described expanded mental-health care (on-site psychiatry) plus plans for a dietitian and continued reproductive-health services.
Representatives from the ETHS school-based health center updated the board on March 9 about services, partnerships and usage statistics and described new clinical capacity aimed at improving access for students.
Reena, introduced as the health center’s lead nurse and an ETHS alumna, and Amy Crow, identified as the center’s medical director, said the clinic — a pediatric primary-care site inside the high school — provides physicals, vaccines, reproductive care, urgent appointments and mental-health services. The presenters credited longstanding partnerships with Endeavor Health and the Evanston Department of Public Health for enabling free and confidential care for uninsured and Medicaid students.
Key figures shared with trustees: last school year the center recorded more than 2,000 visits by about 800 students, including roughly 400 physicals and 851 sick visits. This school year to date the presenters reported 1,764 visits by 571 patients. The center reported 350 mental-health sessions last year with 43 unique students, and said it recently added on-site psychiatry through a partnership with Endeavor’s Bridges program to shorten wait times for psychiatric evaluation and medication management.
Staff described a range of initiatives: an integrated wellness curriculum (sleep, sugar, stress), reproductive-health testing and treatment (183 students tested last year), Narcan and opioid education, and a student ambassador program. The center also announced plans to add a regular on-site dietitian to address eating disorders and pre-diabetes — a gap trustees noted is often unmet for Medicaid-insured or uninsured students.
Trustees asked about parental consent forms and translation services; presenters said a parental consent form is distributed to incoming freshmen and the center is working to digitize it, and that Spanish-speaking staff and remote translation tools are available. Board members praised the center’s accessibility and its role in reducing barriers to care.
Administrators and trustees did not propose new spending in the meeting; the presentation framed the center’s work as an ongoing partnership-driven program and requested trustees’ continuing support.
