CHIMACUM — This isn’t your parents’ school nurse.
Student health care has taken a new turn with the establishment of Student Based Health Care Clinics, which offers answers about and treatment for medical issues.
At the clinics, “the kids get fast answers to their questions, and they don’t have to miss classes in order to get treatment,” said Chimacum High School Principal Whitney Meissner.
“This is convenient for both the students and the parents, who don’t need to take time off from work to drive them to the doctor.”
The clinic, which is open from
8:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m., is staffed by nurse practitioner Sara Kirkegaard on Mondays and Wednesdays and by mental health worker Julie Canterbury on Tuesdays and Thursdays.
A similar clinic operates at Port Townsend High School. It is located in the Gael Stuart Building across from the superintendent’s office.
In Port Townsend, a mental health worker is on duty from 8 a.m. to 12 p.m. Mondays and Wednesdays, and a nurse practitioner is there from 9 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Tuesday and from 10 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Fridays.
“This is a great program,” said Jefferson County Public Health Department Director Jean Baldwin.
“It improves student access to health care and helps us combat issues like school absenteeism, while the mental health component helps kids deal with stress, depression and grief.
“It also gives us the opportunity to refer families without insurance to a low-cost state program they can afford,” she said.
The clinics are the result of a partnership between the schools, the Jefferson County Board of Health, Jefferson Mental Health and Jefferson Healthcare.
The schools provide the facilities, the Board of Health and Jefferson Healthcare each provides a nurse practitioner, and Jefferson Mental Health provides two counselors.
During the 2011-2012 school year, the clinics logged 894 clinic visits and 370 mental health visits, according to its annual report.
They served 290 students, divided evenly between new and returning,
They also provided 104 sports physicals and 630 visits dealing with reproductive health issues.
The clinics cost about $60,000 a year for medical services and $55,000 for the mental health component, Baldwin said.
Kirkegaard said that about 70 percent of the students visiting the clinic have questions about reproductive issues,
Condoms are given to anyone who requests them, and Kirkegaard can insert an IUD.
“Washington state law states that kids can talk about reproductive issues at a clinic with a guarantee of privacy,” she said.
“But when we give this advice, we encourage them to talk it over with their parents or an adult they trust.”
The clinic is housed in a small office suite adjacent to the “commons,” the gathering space students use throughout the day.
Because what goes on inside the clinic is confidential, the fact that it connects to a large, open area is a drawback, Kirkegaard said.
“With the commons right there, it can be hard to do confidentiality,” she said.
Meissner also is mindful of preserving privacy.
Kirkegaard said she wants to build awareness among the students that the clinic is about more than reproductive health and can deal with almost any day-to-day health issue.
It’s also vital for the sports program, since kids can get qualifying physicals without having to go to a doctor.
“The clinic is especially valuable for kids on the teams,” said Port Townsend High School Vice Principal Patrick Kane.
“A lot of the kids don’t have their own doctor, and they can be treated on a sliding scale.”
“I wish I’d had access to something like this when I went to high school,” Kirkegaard said.
She said she tries to be a source of inspiration to the students and encourages them to seek a career in health care.
Anna Weark, a 2012 graduate of Chimacum High School, said, “I don’t know what I would have done if the clinic wasn’t here while I was in school.”
“A lot of kids don’t know where to get help and a lot of their families can’t afford to take them to a doctor.”
Weark showed her appreciation by donating a painting she did as a senior project. It now hangs in the clinic’s lobby.
The painting portrays students seated under a tree doing homework, which Weark said symbolizes her experience at the clinic.
“I put them under a tree because I wanted to show how the clinic is a safe place,” she said.
Jefferson County Reporter Charlie Bermant can be reached at 360-385-2335 or at charlie.
bermant@peninsuladailynews.com.
