Cincinnati Children's expands school-based health center, plans centers at other schools

Cincinnati Children's is expanding its school-based health center at Hughes STEM High School and is looking to provide school-based services to three additional schools outside of Cincinnati Public Schools, officials told The Enquirer on Friday.

The locations of those three new centers will be announced in the coming months.

Cincinnati Children's school-based health centers provide pediatric primary care for local kids in an effort to reduce absenteeism, emergency room visits and hospital admissions. They work in partnership with the school's traditional nurse's office, but when kids visit the health center it is as if they are going to a formal doctor's visit, the hospital says. Cincinnati Children's provides school-based care at three Cincinnati Public Schools buildings already, including Hughes, Rockdale Academy and South Avondale School. Some other district schools have health centers, too, not provided by Cincinnati Children's.

Lisa Crosby , a pediatric nurse practitioner who serves as clinical director for Cincinnati Public's three school-based health centers operated by Cincinnati Children’s, said Hughes' health center logged 900 visits last school year. Altogether, she said, the three health centers Children's Hospital runs within Cincinnati Public Schools had more than 3,000 visits last school year.

"Our goal: keep the students healthy, keep them in the building, keep them learning," Crosby said.

Cincinnati Children's Hughes health center bolstered with state funding

The expansion at Hughes, which is being funded by the Ohio Department of Health, will add three new exam rooms, two of which will be dedicated to mental health. The current center only has one exam room. It will also allow community members to enter the health center from a dedicated entrance, Crosby said.

Hughes serves about 1,300 students, though its health center is open to all children in the community ages 0-21. Medical caregivers at the center provide:

• Same-day care for illness.
• Wellness visits.
• Preventive care.
• Vaccinations.
• School and sports physicals;
• Care and treatment of minor injuries.
• Hearing and vision screenings.
• Weight management.
• Care for asthma, diabetes or autoimmune disorders.
• International travel consultations regarding immunizations and prescription medications.

The staff can also help families connect with pediatric specialists, nutritionists and social workers when needed. They also assess for mental health needs and, since they are in the school daily, have the ability to build relationships with the students they treat.

Mental health access, care for kids is key, says Hughes nurse practitioner

Darice Morgan, the nurse practitioner at Hughes, said she saw so many kids struggling with mental health over the last few years that she was inspired to go back to school to get her psychiatric mental health certification.

"I've seen so many kids with depression and anxiety" after the COVID-19 pandemic, she said. "I want to be better equipped to handle these situations."

As a whole, the convenience factor of the school-based health center is most appealing, Morgan said. Parents like sending their kids to Hughes' school-based health center because they don't have to take off work to take their kids to the doctor's office.

Impact and inspiration: Why school-based health centers work

Thomas Wilks-Hawkins, 17, is a senior student at Hughes and participates in track, baseball and wrestling. He goes to the school-based health center for his school and sports physicals, and checks in with Morgan often to say hello and talk about school and sports. That relationship-building is a crucial aspect of the school-based health center.

"It's like a family here," he said.

Morgan knows about her students' home life, how they are doing in school and talks with them about their post-grad plans. She advocates for her students if they need to be connected with a school counselor or need help in math or another subject area.

"Sometimes I feel like the mother away from home for some kids," Morgan said.

She's also a role model and inspiration for kids, like Thomas, who hope to become a nurse someday. Thomas has an internship at TriHealth and is applying to nursing colleges across the country to become an ultrasound technician.

This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Cincinnati Children's expands school-based health center, plans centers at other schools