Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the School Health Centers topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
County proposes reducing somatic (primary care) days at two elementary school clinics
Summary
DHHS recommended trimming somatic services at Southlake and Viers Mill elementary school health centers from five to three days per week to better align clinic time with utilization; behavioral health services would be maintained and staff reassigned to higher‑use sites.
DHHS presented a recommended reduction to somatic (primary care) services at two elementary school-based health centers — Southlake and Viers Mill — cutting clinic days from five to three per week. Sean O'Donnell, Deputy Chief for Public Health Services, explained the range of somatic services includes physicals, immunizations and other nurse practitioner services and said the recommendation was intended to align staffing to demonstrated utilization.
Belka Orgesa, senior administrator for school health services, described contingency plans for urgent care on days the clinic is not open: staff will attempt to schedule the student for the next open day or contact parents to pick up the student for off‑site care; enrolled students may use services at any of the 10 elementary clinic locations in the network. DHHS said the reduction would eliminate approximately 172 clinic days at the two sites but would preserve staffing levels and reassign affected staff to higher‑utilization centers to reduce recruitment and retention risk.
The committee approved the change for monitoring and asked DHHS to report back on whether the revised schedules create access problems for students who present on closed clinic days.
