February is School-Based Health Care Month

Legacy clinics are co-located in 27 schools in the Houston region, serving hundreds of students across multiple service lines.

By Barrett White

 

For any parent, nothing else matters when your baby is sick. Unfortunately for working parents, that can mean lost hours on the job, complicated scheduling, and undue anxiety to ensure that your child is getting the health care they need.

This is no issue for thousands of parents across Houston however, whose children attend schools with a Legacy clinic located right inside.

Since 2012, parents of students enrolled in one of the 27 Houston-area KIPP, YES Prep, and Galena Park ISD schools with Legacy clinics in them have not had to worry about cashing in their own sick days to take care of the kiddos. Each of Legacy’s school-based health clinics offer behavioral health care including therapy and psychiatry; and pediatric care including immunizations, sick visits, and well-child visits – any service you would receive in a standard pediatric office.

Throughout the students’ enrollment in one of the schools with an attached Legacy clinic, the students are taught to be health literate. This means understanding their charts and how health care works and preparing them for navigating health care in adulthood.

As they approach graduation and begin looking into life after high school, Legacy staff provides them a “Senior Check-Out,” during which they are connected to care in the world outside of their high school. If a student is planning to attend college, a trade school, or pursue work in another city for example, the Legacy providers ensure they are aware of what resources are available to them either on their new campus or located near their new home.

“Legacy school based health centers make high quality healthcare convenient and accessible for students and their families,” says Dr. Teandra Gordon, Legacy’s vice president of school based heath. “We partner with educators across Houston to foster health in students because we know that to learn well you must be well!”

By putting health care providers in schools, students spend more time in class, parents miss fewer hours at work, and health conditions are less likely to go unnoticed and untreated. The existence of such clinics takes a tremendous weight off of parents, students, and employers – and lays the foundation for more positive health outcomes.