Health clinic to open at a Muncie middle school

From The Star Press

MUNCIE, Ind. — Meridian Health Services and Muncie Community Schools are partnering to open a health center at Southside Middle School, the first of its kind in the Muncie region.

The clinic, scheduled to open in April, was announced Tuesday during a school board meeting.
It will be staffed by a nurse practitioner, a nurse and a clinical social worker to provide physical, mental and social well-being health care — establishing such services as obesity intervention, substance abuse prevention and young mother support aimed at decreasing infant mortality in the area.

Southside Middle School principal Craig Standish said the school was excited to pilot a project that will raise the level of care to which his students have access.

Another benefit, he said, is that the in-house clinic will cut down on students missing half a day or more of school to go to the doctor, as well as allow parents to avoid taking a half day or more off work to accompany their children to the doctor.

Meridian community health Vice President Tracy Douglas-Weeler and regional Vice President Lisa Suttle told reporters the clinic, one of only four dozen school-based health centers in the state, would also serve faculty, staff, family and other nearby residents.

The two officials also said it’s possible the partnership with MCS could result in more clinics opening at other Muncie schools.

The project was made possible because non-profit Meridian is a federally qualified health center, or a community-based health care provider that receives funds from an agency of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to provide primary care services in underserved areas.

The health center will provide a host of services, including:

• Health screenings; diagnosis and treatment of acute conditions; immunizations; sports physicals; first aid; family planning services and screening for sexually transmitted infections; obesity intervention; management of chronic health conditions; and referrals to a primary care or other provider, though Suttle said “our thought is we want to do it more in the school.”
• Psycho-social assessments, including ACES (Adverse Childhood Experience Score); crisis interventions; individual, group and family therapy; suicide prevention; and psychiatric medication management.

Meridian already provides behavioral service in Muncie schools, but Suttle said the addition of a nurse practitioner, a nurse and a licensed clinical social worker means “we can dive in more deeply to figure out exactly what’s happening to them and provide help at the school location.”