Two health care providers announced today [Monday] their plans to develop a student health clinic at Rogers High School.
The facility will be operated by the Community Health Association of Spokane, or CHAS. Much of the funding, $590,000 over three years, will be provided by Kaiser Permanente.
Kelly Stanford is Kaiser Permanente’s vice president of operations and market integration in Spokane. She says the clinic will provide physical and mental health services. She says it will be convenient for students who may not otherwise have health care access.
“We also know that, if you have a school-based health center, that you end up having some positive outcomes. They’re not just health-care related, they’re academic as well," Stanford said. "There’s a lot of academic indicators of success, including improved attendance, graduation rates, as well as health care and utilization success, with decreased utilization in emergency departments and hospitalizations.”
In addition to the financial support from Kaiser, six neighborhood councils where Rogers’ students live have donated about $165,000 for the project.
Dr. Bill Lockwood from CHAS says the clinic will allow his company to expand health care access to a group of people that could see significant benefit. The clinic is expected to open to students in about four months.