Kellogg Foundation Invests $4M to Expand Student and Family Health Services (LA)
March 30, 2011
Services to be expanded in six schools across the city including Tremé, Central City, Mid-City, East Carrollton, N.O. East (Michoud neighborhood) and Algiers School Health Connection (SHC), an affiliated program of the Louisiana Public Health Institute (LPHI), has received a $4 million grant from The W.K. Kellogg Foundation designed to help increase access to physical and behavioral health services for New Orleans school-age children and their family members through school-based health centers.
With technical assistance provided by LPHI’s School Health Connection program, school-based health centers already provide greater access to primary and preventive care services to students, including those that are uninsured, underinsured or who may not have access to other health care facilities or care. Services offered by the health clinics range from comprehensive physicals and immunizations to behavioral health screenings and treatment; and diagnosis and treatment of clinical symptoms and conditions such as hypertension, diabetes, asthma and more.
In 2006, The W.K. Kellogg Foundation awarded LPHI and School Health Connection an $8.7 million grant, which served to rebuild school-based health centers destroyed by Hurricane Katrina in Metro New Orleans public schools. The plan also called for the development of new school-based health centers over the three year grant period. As a result, there are currently 11 school-based health centers operating i n Orleans, Jefferson and St. Bernard parishes with three more slated to open later in the year. Kellogg funds, along with other funding from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, have also allowed the installation of electronic medical records technology at all the sites.
The more recent $4 million grant from The W.K. Kellogg Foundation will allow SHC and its partners to improve existing primary care services for those students who already have access to a school-based health center, as well as make those services available to schools nearby without a school-based health center and, in special cases, to families of students in those neighborhoods.
Additional plans for funding include implementing comprehensive wellness programs in schools that would provide support for implementing everything from increased physical activity, enhanced health curricula, staff health and wellness screenings, and the promotion of better nutrition for students and staff.
"School-based health is not only about providing clinical services to students, but it is also about creating a culture of health in schools, where our youth spend the majority of their day," said Marsha Broussard, director of School Health Connection. "This grant affords us the opportunity to take school-based health to the next level by implementing comprehensive wellness programs; it is an investment for a healthier generation of underserved and at-risk populations."
Although school based health centers provide an important service, sustainability of SBHCs in the community is a challenge. School-based health centers in metro New Orleans are supported by several partners including the school itself, school districts, medical sponsors including the Interim LSU Public Hospital, LSUHSC Pediatrics, and Tulane Medical Center, and other grants such as $2 million recently granted from the GE Foundation. The Louisiana Office of Public Health, Adolescent School Health Program provides grant funding, operations support and technical assistance to school-based health centers. The $4 million Kellogg grant will also contribute to the sustainability of SBHCs. By funding a technical consultant to continue to support maximization of billing third-party payers, this grant will help school-based health centers operate more independently of grant funding.
"There has always been a concern of how to financially sustain these beautiful new school-based health centers," added Broussard. "Having the capability to maximize billing private insurance companies and Medicaid is a crucial part of the long term plan to keep school-based health centers providing services and operating with sufficient staff, equipment and medical supplies."
While School Health Connection’s plans include expanding clinical health services to other schools’ students and family members, O. Perry Walker High School is already providing clinical services to students from surrounding schools and L.B. Landry High School is operating as a community clinic. Dr. Cassandra Youmans, MD, MPH, MS-HCM, Director of Community Medicine and Disease Management at the Interim LSU Public Hospital, oversees operations of both the Walker and Landry Health Centers in Algiers and says these programs have been a huge success.
"Our success stems from hard work, an open mind and heart, and a true willingness to collaborate in a way that maximizes our limited resources and mitigates duplication of effort," said Youmans. "We also listen to our community, because we care about what matters to them. Our services reflect their needs; for example, onsite behavioral health services, and are made better with o ngoing quality improvement activities, and input from each clinic’s Community Advisory Committee. Improving the health and quality of life of our community is our goal."
For more information about School Health Connection and a complete list of locations, partners and medical sponsors, visit www.schoolhealthconnection.org.