Booneville to get its 2nd health clinic

Cooper Clinic to lease building from school district, offer care to students

A new full-time health clinic is to occupy a former school building in Booneville this spring.

photo

Arkansas Democrat-Gazette

A map showing the location of Booneville, Arkansas.

Cooper Clinic has agreed to lease a building owned by the Booneville School District under a five-year agreement that the School Board approved in November, Superintendent John Parrish said.

The agreement satisfies the district's desire to have a school-based health center available to students, Parrish said.

Cooper Clinic will lease the 1,800-square-foot building for $750 per month beginning April 1 and continuing through March 31, 2020, according to the agreement. The agreement gives the clinic the option of extending the lease for two additional five-year terms, through March 31, 2030.

Cooper Clinic is expected to begin renovating the building in a few weeks, and once the renovations are complete, the district will be responsible for maintaining the facility, Parrish said. The district also will pursue a state grant for school-based health centers to pay for additional renovations and for hiring a school clinic liaison to schedule health visits for students.

State grants for school-based health centers are provided through the tobacco excise tax, created by Act 180 of 2009. The program is a partnership of several state offices, including the Department of Education and the Department of Health.

School-based health centers offer basic physical, mental, dental or other services that are beyond the scope of what a school nurse can provide, according to a recent Department of Education memorandum.

The grants initially supported the opening of nine school-based health centers in the 2010-11 school year, and the program has since expanded to include more than 20 centers throughout the state. The most recent school districts to receive grants were Cedar Ridge, Malvern and Southside Batesville.

Tamara Baker, the state's school-based health center adviser, anticipates the state awarding grants for three more sites in 2015. The application deadline is March 20. Grant recipients receive a total of $540,000 over five years, with $150,000 the first year and decreasing amounts in the subsequent years.

Since the program began, the state has awarded about $10.5 million in grants for the school-based health centers, said Jerri Clark, school health services director for the Department of Education. Clark anticipates a state appropriation of $2 million for the program in 2015.

A Web seminar on the coming grant program is planned for Tuesday, Baker said.

Since the first centers opened, the department has learned that school districts must have medical and mental health partnerships in place before applying for grants to be successful, Baker said.

"I am pleased to report that for the most part, the medical provider and mental-health provider communities have embraced the concept of offering quality services to students on campus," Baker said. "These are students who would not necessarily get the services they need regardless of ability to pay."

Booneville school officials began discussing a school-based health center a year ago but put the conversation on hold because of disagreements in the community over what provider should operate there, Parrish said.

When the district heard that Cooper Clinic planned to locate in Booneville, a nurse for the district contacted the company and asked about a possible partnership, Parrish said. Company officials set up a meeting with Parrish, and they discussed the clinic renting the former school building across from the Booneville Elementary School.

The company was willing to open a clinic even if the district was not awarded a state grant for a school-based health center, Parrish said. The new center will give Booneville a second health clinic.

The district enrolls about 1,270 students in Logan County.

When it opens, the clinic will operate from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday, said Melissa Astin, a representative of the Cooper Clinic's administration. A nurse practitioner will be on duty every day of the week, and a physician will see patients at least once a week.

"There is a strong need for primary-care services in Booneville," Astin said. "Working jointly with the school will allow us to provide primary-care services to school-age children, as well as adults in the community."

The clinic will set aside specific hours each day for treating Booneville students, so that they receive medical care in a timely manner, Astin said.

Cooper Clinic officials plan to open the Booneville location in April, but the timing depends on numerous factors, including receiving a rural health clinic certification, spokesman Nancy Blochberger said.

NW News on 12/05/2014

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