Meijer donated $ 2 million to the Cleveland Clinic Children’s school-based health program to purchase a mobile unit that will visit school districts in northeast Ohio throughout the school year to provide needed health care a press release.
The mobile full-service children’s office is the second unit of the school-based health program that provides medical care for children in school.
It will help expand services to the Cleveland Metropolitan School District, where children in the city’s public schools, disproportionately affected by poverty, need access to basic services.
The department offers health and wellness services to students – regardless of health insurance status – from kindergarten through 12th grade, including, according to the press release: vaccinations, first aid, full physical exams, diagnosis and treatment of acute and chronic illnesses and more.
“We know that education is a social determinant of health and can have lifelong effects on a person’s health and well-being,” said pediatrician Dr. Roopa Thakur in a statement provided. “The absence of school for health reasons or lack of access to care because you don’t want to miss school can affect a child’s long-term health and development. Our program aims to help combat this by providing pediatric health services at the same time Keeping children safe Stay in school and parents never miss a job for an office visit. ”
Thakur is the medical director of the Cleveland Clinic Children’s school-based health program, which cared for 1,894 unique patients during the 2019-2020 school year. The clinic plans to expand patient enrollment in the program to partner districts: Cleveland Metropolitan School District, East Cleveland, Greater Cleveland, Maple Heights, Warrensville Heights, and Lakewood.
As the COVID-19 pandemic spurred students into virtual learning, the press release said there was an increased need for access to consistently high quality children’s health care, stating that the unit was also on site to make sure school Seamless and consistent maintenance is carried out virtually. The school-based health program expanded telemedicine to address new problems and follow-up care for chronic illnesses.
Cleveland Clinic Children’s nurses give educational lectures on youth health, hygiene, dental health, and other topics throughout the school year.
“Meijer cares deeply about the communities we serve, especially the health and wellbeing of the people who live in them,” said Rick Keyes, President and CEO of Meijer, in a statement provided. “We are excited to continue our partnership with Cleveland Clinic to not only expand convenient access to health services for children, but also to meet them where they are – in school.”
