School Health
miami and beyond
In 2001, Dr. Arthur Fournier brought forward a simple idea to a local foundation in Miami, The Dr. John T Maconald Foundation: the best place to provide healthcare and to teach about healthcare for school-age children is where they spent most of the time–in schools!
Eureka!
With funding provided by the foundation the program established clinics in first one and now three feeder patterns – the administrative arrangement of primary middle and high schools that allows for continuity of care from pre-kindergarten through high school.
cost-effective care for miami schoolchildren
Using a team approach and tele-health technology, one doctor and a team of nurses, nursing assistants, and social workers provide primary care to 12,000 schoolchildren in nine schools in metropolitan Miami-Dade County. Recently, oral health and mental health services have been added, thanks to a grant from CMS-Medicaid. The program is being brought forward as a model method of providing cost-effective care in underserved communities. The model has been approved for funding in rural Florida.
Virginia
HealthShare Global is working with the University of Virginia and a Federally Qualified Community Health Centerto duplicate the model in rural Virginia.
Haiti
Funding provided by Cross International has also allowed us to introduce school health to the community health program in Haiti’s Central Plateau.
Results
Currently, 47 schools in this program receive:
- Regular visits by school health nurses and community health workers
- Routine immunizations
- Medicines to clear worm infestations
- Nutritious meals at least once a day