POMPANO BEACH, Fla. — The Broward County Public Schools District is helping to keep those in their community safe and healthy.
The district is opening clinics at two school campuses across the county and they’re not just for students.
Starting Wednesday, the clinics will be a one-stop shop for health, offering everything from check-ups to counseling for anyone in the community.
“The resource hub is going to support students’ wellness, mental health support and also medical support through nurse practitioners,” BCPS Superintendent Howard Hepburn said.
Hepburn said the new clinic hubs are not just for students, but any community member in need can use the services.
“We want to make sure that there’s an area in a community where it can service our kids’ needs, where there may be a healthcare desert or maybe too far or maybe too much of a concern. We don’t want things to linger,” he said.
The effort is a partnership between Community Based Connections Inc. handling therapy, and Broward Community and Family Health Centers providing medical care.
“We are talking about free mental health services, we are talking about helping families to find resources in their community,” Mikelange Olbel, president and CEO of Community Based Connections Inc., said. “We will have navigators here, fatherhood cultures here.”
The clinics will even have some of its own students who are part of the schools’ medical program volunteering.
“I want to be a cardiologist and this will be able to provide the opportunity for me to have that hands on experience,” Blanche Ely High School student Therresa Joseph said.
“Not every student may have health insurance or things like that, so this is a great opportunity for them to be able to get medical care,” fellow Blanche Ely student Mike Chevelon said.
For families without insurance, the clinics will use a sliding scale fee.
“We have mental health support services already embedded in all of our schools when students need it. But this is also an additional layer for mental health support,” Hepburn said.
The superintendent said the reality of many families right now is that they can’t afford healthcare and some of the co-pays.
“Sometimes decisions are made – ‘Oh, we’ll take care of that later,’ and we don’t want you to take care of that later,” Hepburn said.
Specialized mental health services will be available every weekday, but for the moment, primary care will start just a few days a week at each clinic.
The new community clinics are opening at Blanche Ely High School in Pompano Beach and William Dandy Middle School in Fort Lauderdale.
Both clinics will be open during the school day, along with select evening hours.
Services offered at the clinics include:
- Primary care
- Health education to support lifestyle choices
- Behavioral health support
- Case management and care coordination
- Family strengthening services
- Crisis intervention services
- Nutritional education and food security programs
- Housing support
- Resource navigation
- Employment assistance and workforce development initiatives.
According to School Board member Debra Hixon, while the clinics are on the school campuses, the clinics are gated and separated from the actual school buildings, where students enter.
She said the clinic has only one way in and one way out and has its own entry point.
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