Mobile Healthcare Offered to Pittsburg Students in September
By: Melanie Huonker
Updated: July 10, 2012
PITTSBURG, KS.--- Mendy Jay's 7-year-old son is a patient at the Community Health Center of Southeast Kansas. She already enrolled him to use services with the Kid Care Connection mobile health van.
"My son is asthmatic so he is already a patient here, so what is wonderful is his history is already in the system," Jay says.
75% of students in USD 250 visit the Health Center, and now that care will come to them.
"This was a way to make our clinic mobile and take it to schools," Dawn McNay, Director of Operations, says.
The van will rotate every week around Pittsburg's four elementary schools, the middle school and high school. It will house a health provider, nurse practitioner, and support staff in three rooms. One room can double for use as dental care.
"This provides an option for parents for their child to be seen during the school day if they have a tummy ache or an ear ache or some kind of need," McNay says.
Parents say the mobile van will make it a lot easier for their children to get access to healthcare.
"I have a very busy job and I can't always leave and be interrupted in my work day or i'm stuck in a meeting," Jay says.
Parents can give a consent form allowing their child permission to use the service, all while keeping them on school grounds.
"He can just go back to class and we can continue the treatment at night as needed," Jay says.
Every student can get care regardless of insurance or income status.
