A year after the first school-based health centers opened in Omaha, the initiative is being expanded to all students in the Omaha Public Schools who need an alternative route to basic health care.
In its first year the effort focused on helping students at the six schools where the clinics were housed and at 63 nearby schools, although kids from every Omaha ZIP code visited the centers.
Now officials with Building Bright Futures, the educational philanthropy organization behind the centers, wants to make it known that all OPS students and their siblings under age 18 — no matter where they live or go to school — are welcome at the centers.
"If you're in OPS and you're in need of health care and don't have any alternative health care, we're available to you," said John Cavanaugh, executive director of Building Bright Futures.
Nationwide, health clinics are being started in schools to take care of kids' basic health needs or address chronic health problems and keep the students in class.
"The whole program was designed not only to get kids healthy but to keep them in school, to keep them learning," said Dr. Debra Tomek, a medical adviser for Building Bright Futures.
The centers logged 2,245 visits by children last school year and hope to double that number this year. To ensure that the centers can handle more visits, officials are hiring more clinic workers, expanding the centers' services and extending hours.
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