Students returning to Springfield High School this year can access , complete with exam rooms, a lab with flu and COVID vaccines, and spaces for counseling and group therapy.
The resource isn鈥檛 down the street. It鈥檚 down the hallway.
鈥淭his is the student waiting area,鈥� said Anita Biles, Springfield City School District鈥檚 health center coordinator, pausing outside a room lined with a neat row of chairs. 鈥淪o out the door and to your right is the main hallway that goes into the [school] building.鈥�
The clinic is stocked with state-of-the-art equipment. Exam tables measure a patients鈥� weight, so they no longer have to step on a scale.
Around the corner, there鈥檚 a room for vision exams.
鈥淲e'll have the opportunity to have this room designed where students could pick out their own glasses,鈥� Biles said, pointing to an empty wall. 鈥淪o we would have our own selection of glasses.鈥�
Further back, there鈥檚 space reserved for three dental beds.
鈥淎nd so we'll be able to do cleanings,鈥� she said. 鈥淭hat is a desperate need in our community.鈥�
The impact of health care on learning
The health center at Springfield High School is open to anyone who lives in the small city 30 minutes northeast of Dayton. But students are the top priority.
鈥淭he purpose of the center is to be fully accessible and available to our families who typically might have a hard time accessing health care,鈥� Biles said. 鈥淲hat this does is allow students and their families to be seen immediately, with the ultimate goal of getting them back into the classroom quicker.鈥�
Currently, she said, there aren鈥檛 enough providers in town to serve the city鈥檚 , so students sometimes face long wait times to see a doctor.
On top of that, more than people in Springfield live under the poverty line. For those families, finding transportation or taking time off work to take a kid to the pediatrician can be extra difficult.
And when kids don鈥檛 get don鈥檛 get health care, it can be hard to focus on subjects like geometry and Shakespeare.
鈥淚f my tooth hurts, I don't want to eat,鈥� Biles said. 鈥淎nd if I don't want to eat, I'm going to school hungry. And if I'm going to school hungry, all I think about is now I'm hungry. And then I鈥檓 tired.鈥�
But with nurse practitioners, counselors and even dentists, just down the hallway at school, students can get care right away.
鈥淭hey have immediate access to immunizations, so that they can stay in school,鈥� Biles said. 鈥淲hen they're not feeling well, instead of just staying home and hoping it gets better in 4 to 5 days, they can get immediate medical services, get on medication faster and then maybe they can get back into school in less time.鈥�
The expansion of school-based health centers
The idea of school-based health centers is spreading quickly across Ohio.
Last academic year, there were in the state, according to the Ohio School School-Based Health Alliance. Nearly two-thirds were established in the last five years alone.
So far, these centers tend to cluster around urban areas. Cincinnati Children鈥檚 Hospital, for example, recently announced it鈥檚 at Hughes STEM High School, part of the city school district.
But rural schools are starting to see the utility in clinics too, and the state has taken note. Earlier this year, it dedicated for mobile and school-based health centers in Appalachian districts like Gallia County.
A health care solution in Gallia County
In southeast Ohio, Gallia County Local School District鈥檚 chronic absenteeism rate is climbing. School administrators say about a quarter of the small student body misses more than 10% of school days.
District treasurer Jack Webb says health care access is a part of the equation. The school of 250 middle and high schoolers sits behind a gas station and a Baptist church. The closest health clinic is 15 miles down the winding, rural road to town
鈥淚f you're a parent and you work in Gallipolis, you're taking off 45 minutes to an hour earlier to come out, pick your student up, go all the way back into town, take them to the doctor, bring them all the way back home after the doctor's appointment,鈥� he said. 鈥淵ou've wasted half a day's sick leave or a half a day's vacation. And your student鈥檚 lost half a day in the classroom.鈥�
Ever since the pandemic, Principal Bray Shamblin said kids are more likely to stay home when they鈥檙e sick. The solution in his eyes is multi-faceted.
鈥淥ne, we have to be able to persevere and teach a little bit of that perseverance, even when we're not feeling the best,鈥� he said. 鈥淏ut at the same token, addressing those issues the right way, if you're truly sick, seeking that medical attention.鈥�
That will be a lot easier next school year, Shamblin said, when South Gallia Middle-High School has a new health center 鈥� much like Springfield鈥檚 鈥� just down the hall from the library.