Tualatin, Ore. – The morning of Friday, May 1st proved to be an exciting day of looking forward for students at Tualatin High School. Elections were being held for next school year, talk of graduation was buzzing in the halls and a new health clinic on campus opened its doors.
A group of 100 community members, funding partners, Tigard-Tualatin School District representatives , students, and staff of Virginia Garcia joined together to cut the ribbon on a project which has been years in the making: Tualatin School-Based Health Center (SBHC).
A partnership between Virginia Garcia and the school district is not new. In 2008 they partnered to open the doors to the Tigard SBHC. Now, seven years later, the Tualatin SBHC is the sixth SBHC operated by Virginia Garcia and the second for the district.
School-based health centers are great examples of expanding access and reaching students where they already are: school. The SBHC looks and operates like a typical health clinic and features an interdisciplinary team, including a family nurse practitioner, medical assistant, mental health provider and a dental hygienist. Students can use the SBHC for immediate issues that may arise, but they can also come to their SBHC for primary care services such as sports physicals, immunizations, counseling or health education.
“Virginia Garcia’s mission has always driven us to provide care where it is most accessible to our patients, and there are few examples more fitting then a school-based health center,” said Virginia Garcia CEO Gil Muñoz. “We are on site with students, where they attend school, so that they can spend more time in class learning, and less time in the doctor’s office.”
With a focus on prevention, the SBHCs also include wellness coordinators and youth advisory councils to inform the decisions and activities that affect students. Mental health services are all provided by LifeWorks NW.
Funding for the Tualatin SBHC came from a number of partners, including: Cambia Health Foundation, Kaiser Permanente Northwest, Washington County, A-dec, Patterson Dental and Legacy Meridian Park Medical Center and State of Oregon School-Based Health Center Program Office.
Continued coverage of expenses for the SBHC are shared between Virginia Garcia and the high school. The SBHC’s staff and personnel expenses, as well as medical supplies and equipment, are covered by Virginia Garcia, while costs of the facility are covered by the school.
Following the opening celebrations, the clinic will be open and ready to serve students beginning Monday, May 4, 2015.
Virginia Garcia Memorial Health Center provides high quality, comprehensive and culturally appropriate primary health care with a special emphasis on those with barriers to receiving health care. Since its founding nearly 40 years ago, Virginia Garcia has grown from a grassroots clinic into a full service health care home serving Washington and Yamhill Counties. Today, Virginia Garcia employs over 500 people, has a budget of more than $50 million, and serves nearly 40,000 patients at five primary care clinics, five dental clinics, six school-based health centers and a mobile outreach clinic. Visitwww.virginiagarcia.org for more information on the Virginia Garcia Memorial Health Center
Virginia Garcia Memorial Foundation provides enduring support for Virginia Garcia Memorial Health Center through funding, community relations and the cultivation of community partners. Since 1975, Virginia Garcia Memorial Health Center has provided high quality, comprehensive and culturally appropriate primary healthcare to the communities of Washington and Yamhill counties with a special emphasis on those with barriers to receiving care.
