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- [South Omaha]
Every Child Will Be Seen, No Matter Their Ability to Pay
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August 31, 2010, at 06:00 AM
Spring Lake Elementary Principle Susan Aguilerra-Robles
James Derrick Schott
New school-based health centers add “awesome” asset to six area schools.
It’s a bright idea.
In 2006, a group of Omaha philanthropists formed a plan for where their donations were going in the Omaha community. The stipulation: that the monies address needs of local youth.
Thanks to that decision, new school-based health centers opened at Spring Lake Magnet and five other metro schools in August, just in time for the 2010-2011 school year.
“What an advantage,” said Spring Lake Magnet’s Principal, Susan Aguilerra-Robles. With a community health professional on duty in the building every day, she said, less instruction time is lost when a child is sick.
Each center is equipped with an exam room, a separate office for mental and behavioral health services, a registration area and a lab. The centers are funded through Building Bright Futures, the program launched with the aim of studying educational disparities, improving academic achievement and promoting overall wellness among area youth.
“It’s a public health focus,” Healthy Futures Director Jeanee Weiss said. Healthy Futures is a wellness-centric arm of Building Bright Futures. “We’re really working to make sure kids have access to quality health care.”
Health services at the Spring Lake Magnet center are provided by South Omaha’s One World Community Health Center. One World also provides services to the facilities at Indian Hills and Liberty Elementary schools.
“Knowing our community is coming into our school is key,” Aguilerra-Robles said. “We’re really serving the same child, so why not start talking and collaborating more?”
Services students receive are billed to their families’ insurance or Medicaid, Weiss said. Students without health insurance are billed according to a sliding fee set by One World, based on family income.
“Every child will be seen, no matter their ability to pay,” Weiss said.
Learn more at www.buildingbrightfutures.net.
What's new at your school? Contact the writer at south@metroneighborhoodnews.com
