CENTRAL FALLS - State health officials and political leaders welcomed a school-based health center back to Central Falls High School on Monday with a ribbon-cutting ceremony and speaking program. The center will provide care for students through a partnership with Blackstone Valley Community Health Care, the Department of Family Medicine at Memorial Hospital of Rhode Island/Alpert Medical School of Brown University, and Central Falls High School.
The school-based health center will be staffed by Memorial Hospital and Blackstone Valley Community Health Care. It will share an electronic medical record with the Blackstone Valley Community Health Care, "ensuring seamless transition of health information for students and health center patients," according to a news release. The clinic, located in Central Falls High School, will be open Monday through Friday during the academic year, and open to students attending Central Falls High School.
"The return of school-based health care to Central Falls High School is a great success," said Gov. Lincoln Chafee. "It shows cities and neighborhoods throughout the state what we can do when we work together. This clinic is opening today because the whole community came together to make it happen - the city, the state, local institutions, health care providers, community organizations and individuals. The result will be improved access to health care for students and everything that follows from that, (including) better health, improved student performance, and a more vital community."
The health center grew, in part, out of a listening session in Central Falls last autumn, where community members had the opportunity to share the health issues that most concerned them in their community, and their suggestions for addressing them. Among the suggestions discussed were another health center, improved access to affordable healthcare, more education for teens around violence and drugs, and a collaborative way to get people healthier. The community forum led to regular monthly meetings where staff and leadership from the Rhode Island Department of Health, Central Falls City Hall, Blackstone Valley Community Healthcare, Memorial Hospital, the Pawtucket YMCA, and other community stakeholders came together to discuss how to create more opportunities for healthy living in Central Falls.
“As a community, we identified a need for better access to health care, and thanks to the collaborative work of our partners, after at least eight years, we are bringing back a school-based health clinic to Central Falls, providing easier access to receiving quality health care for our students, who may otherwise not have the access. Staying healthy allows students to focus on receiving a quality education to prepare them for their future careers,” said Mayor James Diossa. “We are committed to improving health care for all residents in Central Falls, but it starts with small victories like a school-based health clinic for our students.”
Officials have a "vision and plan for helping everyone in Rhode Island access great primary care services, close to home,” said Director of the Department of Health Michael Fine. “The school-based health center is a wonderful example of how listening to what the community wants and needs, and then bringing people together to address those issues, can help the community grow healthier, safer, and stronger. We look forward to continuing our collaboration to help improve health and well-being in Central Falls.”
Efforts to establish the school-based health center have helped lay the groundwork for establishing a neighborhood health station in Central Falls. A neighborhood health station is a new kind of organization that builds community as it improves the health of individuals.
To learn more about neighborhood health stations in Rhode Island, visit www.health.ri.gov/healthcare/about/neighborhoodhealthstations.
Town:
Pawtucket
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Pawtucket
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Briefs
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