BUTLER COUNTY, Ohio — With school back in session, in person, and COVID-19 cases already reported, the Edgewood City School District is not taking any chances.
“It’s just another layer of protection and benefit that we have,” said District Spokesperson Pam Pratt.
Now, the school nurse won’t be the only one handling any potential COVID-19 cases. A new health clinic opened up inside the high school.
“Our protocol would be for a staff member or a child, if they become ill during the day, to seek the service of our school nurse first and if there is a need for further medical evaluation, then that is certainly an option for us to resource the child to the health clinic,” said Pratt.
But the clinic is not just for students. Anyone in the community can come there for a COVID test, dental, eye, medical, or behavioral health exam.
“What we’re really trying to do is help a family establish a medical home,” said Primary Health Solutions President/CEO Marc Bellisario.
It’s part of the reason Bellisario says they picked a school to put the clinic in. It’s their fourth school-based clinic in southwest Ohio.
“We’re targeting school districts because that’s where we find there’s a real opportunity. We have many parents who are low-income wage earners, so they don’t have a lot of time off, two parents working, and the ability to get their child to the doctor on time,” said Bellisario.
He says they’ve been working with the Edgewood district for the last year, before COVID, to get the clinic up and running, but it’s opened just in time to help during the pandemic.
