School-based rural health clinics in southeast Tenn. provide example for rest of the nation

A network of school-based health clinics in rural Monroe County, Tennessee, says its program has made medical care available to thousands of children and their families and could be duplicated across the country. Barbara Levin, chief executive officer of Chota Community Health Services, the non-profit agency that runs the school clinics, detailed her program at a hearing held by the U.S. Senate's Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, Michael Collins of Scripps Howard Newspapers reports for the Knoxville News Sentinel.

"To change the status of America's health, we must focus on our children," Chairman Carl Levin, D-Mich., told the committee. "What is at stake here is actually the future of our country." The Monroe County program began 10 years ago with the help of a federal grant and now includes eight clinics serving students and staff. "The clinics are funded through the Monroe County Department of Education, various grants and patient care revenues," Collins writes. "The school-based services provide daily health supervision for 5,600 students, as well as acute and chronic care. Last year, six licensed social workers provided mental health services to more than 300 children."

The eight clinics reported 46,000 visits last year. "The impact on the physical health of the children has been great," Levin said. "This is a homegrown project that works." The hearing was one in a series that lawmakers have been holding as they prepare to rework the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, which authorizes federally funded education programs that are administered by the states. (Read more)