UM Health System Opens Student Health Center At Ypsilanti HS
New health care services and health-related programs are now in session at Ypsilanti High School.
The school, located at 2095 Packard Road, will host the fifth school-based health center operated by the University of Michigan Health System through its Regional Alliance for Healthy Schools -- a community partnership between the UMHS and the Michigan departments of Community Health and Education.
"Opening a health center in Ypsilanti High School now allows all of the adolescents in Ypsilanti access to health care inside their schools," said Jennifer Salerno, the alliance's director.
"We're not trying to be a medical home program, but we're working as a community partner to provide a safety net for kids, especially for those who are not currently connected to a primary care provider or clinic," she said.
The newest location joins the alliance's other school-based health centers at Ypsilanti Middle School, Willow Run Middle and High School, Ann Arbor's Scarlett Middle School and Stone High School. It fills a void within the Ypsilanti community, says Salerno, who is a nurse practitioner.
Targeting uninsured and low-income students, services at the centers are also available to student's children and siblings.
"It really is a holistic approach to care -- not just treating the concerns students have on that day, but addressing all of their emotional, physical and tangible needs," Salerno says.
The alliance's expansion comes a few months after the release of the Michigan Evaluation of School-based Health Project, the first long-term state study to examine the correlation between school-based health centers and students' health and behaviors.
For three years, a team of Michigan State University researchers followed 1,038 Michigan middle and high school students from three types of schools -- those with health centers implemented in spring 2006, those with health centers in operation for six or more years and those without centers.
The study documents numerous health benefits associated with school-based health centers for both students accessing services and the entire student population.
Among the study's findings for students who used the health center services are greater satisfaction with health, greater self-esteem, less physical discomfort, engaging in more physical activity, eating healthier foods, greater family involvement and more active social problem-solving skills.
The study also found that students who did not access services at centers within their schools still reaped benefits, such as fewer threats to a student's achievement, engaged in fewer individual risks and decreased emotional discomfort.
The centers' holistic approach to health care is reinforced by additional services, such as enrolling students and their families for health insurance, facilitating visits for vision and mobile dental services.
The programs and services offered at each location are tailored to meet the varied needs of each student population and community. All focus on providing high-quality physical, mental and preventive health care.
The Ypsilanti High School health center will operate as a pilot program this year, opening two days a week. If program administrators can secure additional funding through the state of Michigan, Salerno says the center could open full time in fall of 2011.
Each center is staffed by UM physicians, nurse practitioners, social workers, dieticians, medical assistants and other support staff. The alliance -- which is funded primarily by the UMHS and the Michigan Department of Education -- also provides outreach services to four area elementary schools.
The alliance began in 1996 and is part of a rotation for UM second- and third-year pediatric and family medicine residents.
