Henry Ford Health System - School-Based and Community Health Program

What is it?

Committed to its community, Henry Ford Health System has created effective approaches to provide residents, especially minorities and ethnicities, needed medical care. From comprehensive, free family grief support to a health improvement program tailored to African-American men, Henry Ford offers more than 15 programs – each a solution to Detroit’s health challenges. Henry Ford’s School-Based and Community Health Program provides primary and preventive health care, and can be the only health care a child receives. Services offered range from basic primary care including immunizations to counseling; behavioral health therapy, case management and individual, family and group therapy; dental screenings, cleaning, x-rays and sealants; vision exams and glasses; and Medicaid outreach and enrollment. Follow-up care is arranged if needed. All children may access the clinic regardless of ability to pay or health insurance status.

Working with local schools, Henry Ford Health System provides staff, medical oversight and supplies for the school clinics. Parents sign a consent form allowing their children to be treated by the clinic. In 20 years of operation, the Program has established 10 public-school-based health centers and partnered with other health systems to launch three additional clinics, which those organizations now operate.

In 2011, the Program added a Mobile Medical Clinic in partnership with the Children’s Health Fund. Dubbed HANK (Health Alliance for Neighborhood Kids), the 38-foot unit visits seven sites in the city, offering primary care, immunizations, dental services, and screening and treatment for illness and injury. Challenges in the Detroit school district have led to school closures. The Program will be adding a second mobile medical clinic to its program in 2013. In addition, a developing partnership with two major Medicaid managed care plans will result in the School-Based and Community Health Program being designated as a target group’s medical home, linking the child through the health clinic, HANK and Henry Ford’s traditional pediatric clinics in the area.

Who is it for?

Low income, insured and uninsured students, elementary through high school; 80 percent of patients are Medicaid eligible.

Why do they do it?

Improving the overall health and well-being of a community can happen one child at a time. The health centers strive to provide comprehensive, interdisciplinary and confidential health services that will meet the needs of students in an atmosphere that is caring and provide mutual respect. As the System’s Chief Executive Officer Nancy Schlichting recently said, “The Program is a very valuable part of Health system operations, and the clinics enable Henry Ford to bring medical care to students directly, inside their own schools or through our mobile unit HANK. Improved health, fewer chronic illnesses, and access to dental and vision care means our students can learn more effectively and spend more time in school – not at home sick.”

Impact

The program handles nearly 20,000 student visits a year. Schools with clinics boast at or near 100 percent immunization rates, meaning more children can start school on time and avoid the delay that expensive shots can bring. Schools with clinics also have higher standardized test scores – 23 percent higher – than their non-clinic counterparts. The top five reasons students visit a Henry Ford Health System health center are: routine health check, health counseling, immunizations, counseling for sexually transmitted diseases, and asthma treatment. Since 2008, the Program has provided 8,900 dental cleanings and fluoride treatments, and provided 2,350 pairs of glasses. Studies show that in a school with a health center, school attendance improves; severity and management of chronic diseases, such as asthma, is reduced; teen pregnancy is reduced; and students report increased access to care for children without health insurance.

Contact: Kathleen Conway
Administrator, Pediatrics; and Director, School-Based and Community Health Program
Telephone: 313-874-5483
E-mail: kconway1@hfhs.org