Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

School based health centers showing results

Several groups are continuing efforts to expand school based health centers in Cincinnati. 

The city's health department and private partners are working to fund the 6 current sites and 2 more are scheduled to open after the first of the year. 

Council's Rules and Government Operations Committee heard about the program Wednesday. 

Health Department spokesman Rocky Merz said the centers are the future of health care in the schools.

“So now we have a true partnership,” Merz said.  “Where the city’s got skin in the game, CPS has got skin in the game, local foundations and hospitals have skin in the game.  And the end result of that is a much better product for our children.”

Dr. Marilyn Crumpton with the city health department says the centers have a nurse practitioner who can see and often treat students rather than just sending them home for the day. 

She said that usually involves a phone consultation.

“So that parent can take a call at work and if the problem is something that can be dealt with and that student can go back in class, one the student never left the building and two the parent never left work,” Crumpton said.  “And that’s the win I think that everybody pretty quickly gets.”

The city's health department used to have a nurse in all the Cincinnati Public elementary schools.  That program was scaled back a couple of years ago because of budget cuts. 

That's when the Health Foundation of Greater Cincinnati and others got involved to come up with a new model with private funding. 

Schools without access to a health center usually have health assistants on site.

Jay Hanselman brings more than 10 years experience as a news anchor and reporter to 91.7 WVXU. He came to WVXU from WNKU, where he hosted the local broadcast of All Things Considered. Hanselman has been recognized for his reporting by the Kentucky AP Broadcasters Association, the Ohio Society of Professional Journalists, and the Ohio AP Broadcasters.