Hamilton County Schools partners with Erlanger to expand student health care services

An image from HCS shows a student receiving care from a practitioner at Howard Connect Academy's school health center, which was opened earlier this year.

Hamilton County Schools (HCS) recently teamed up with the healthcare provider Erlanger Health System to open a School-Based Health Center at Howard Connect Academy, a district announcement said.

According to the announcement, the new clinic functions as a comprehensive pediatric office and offers preventive and acute care, as well as an on-site lab for diagnostics. The launch of the center earlier this year came after the HCS Board of Education voted last year to approve a construction bid for a student health center.

Hamilton County Schools’ Coordinator of Community Partnerships Andrew Hardy told Tennessee Firefly that the center enables school nurses and practitioners to provide students with services such as “routine physicals, sick visits, lab work, and immunizations right on the Howard campuses.” He said the partnership with Erlanger received about $300,000 from a Tennessee Department of Health grant to “staff the clinic full-time for the first two years.”

“Hamilton County Schools and Erlanger Community Health Centers have partnered with a shared goal of supporting the Howard School community. By opening a school-based health clinic, we aim to improve access to healthcare for our 6th-12th grade students,” Hardy said, adding that the district has partnered with various other community organizations as well with that goal in mind.

According to the district announcement, the clinic works to provide “essential healthcare services that ensure students can thrive both academically and physically.” Hardy noted that part of the goal is also to address chronic absenteeism among students, which often comes as a result of medical and mental health issues.   

“Like many school districts, we are heavily focused on addressing chronic absenteeism, which affects students who miss 10 percent or more school days each year. Quick and affordable healthcare is essential to tackling this issue. The preventative and responsive care available through this clinic plays a key role in reducing chronic absenteeism, ensuring students stay healthy and in class,” he said. “When students are absent, learning is interrupted. By keeping them in school consistently, we support both their academic success and their ability to build relationships.”

The announcement said that in addition to the partnership with Erlanger, the district has teamed up with the Hamilton County Health Department and Eyes of Hope to provide dental care and eye exams, among other services.

Hardy said partnerships such as these have played a “crucial role” in broader district efforts to improve students’ health and wellbeing, particularly among traditionally underserved student populations and students from low-income households.

“We are grateful to Erlanger Community Health Centers for their continued partnership and innovative support of our students as we work to fulfill one of our district’s strategic commitments — ‘Every Community Served,’” he said.