Logan Health – Conrad is excited to announce the addition of a School-Based Health Clinic available to students and staff at Conrad Public Schools.
“The goal of the School-Based Health Clinic is to increase access to health care for students and reduce the amount of missed work for a parent or guardian to attend appointments,” says Nicki Sullivan, LPN, and school nurse. The availability of an on-site clinic at the school, where providers collaborate with school administrators, also reduces student absences due to health care appointments.
School-Based Health Clinic (SBHC) currently operates at Utterback Middle School and offers care for acute and chronic conditions, as well as preventive care, health education, medication follow-up, and more. Acute care visits are defined to address an urgent situation, such as illness, pain, or injuries. Chronic care addresses an ongoing condition, for example, anxiety, asthma, allergies, or behavioral health.
The clinic is a department of Logan Health Rural Health Clinic – Conrad, providing additional resources and a full healthcare team of local providers at the school, including Sullivan, LPN and school nurse, Heather Johns, DNP, and Kylee Bakker, DNP. This patient care team follows Logan Health’s mission of improving health and quality of life by delivering exceptional, compassionate care with an outstanding experience for all. The clinic is proud to offer this same high level of care to students through the School-Based Health Clinic.
“All of us are excited to be out in the community and working with students and staff members,” says, Heather Johns, DNP. “We hope to be able to alleviate some of the pressure off students and parents, as well as staff members, from missing school and having to rush to and from appointments.”
Johns explains how a general visit at the clinic takes place. “A parent or teacher can initiate a concern and work with the school nurse to determine if a primary care visit is needed. We would see the student or staff member in the clinic, just as if they were in the regular clinic,” describes Johns. “A signed consent form from the parent is needed, which gives us permission to see the student for the school year. If the parent is not present during the visit, my goal would be to call the parent before moving forward with any testing or procedures and explain the situation.”
The strong support and coordination from school administrators and community members made opening a School-Based Health Clinic a priority for Conrad schools. Logan Health has been successfully serving the Flathead Valley with School-Based Health Clinics since 2017 and believes that strong schools are the foundation of communities. Through Logan Health, additional School-Based Health Clinic resources are readily accessible, as well as the support to add the new service to the Hi-Line communities.
The SBHC hours are Tuesday 8 a.m. – 12 p.m. and Thursday 12 p.m. – 4 p.m. The school nurse is available Monday through Friday during school hours. Visit logan.org/schools or call (406) 970-4785 to learn more about the SBHC and to schedule an appointment at Utterback Middle School.