Helping Children to HEAL By Ray Saunders, HEALS, Inc.

The Health Establishments at Local Schools (HEALS) program is dedicated to providing accessible quality school-based primary health care for children and their siblings through collaborative efforts with the city school system and the medical community. HEALS offers an essential strategy for improving the lives of children and families in an effort to optimize their opportunities for success in school and society.

History of HEALS, Inc.
HEALS has three medical clinics---the Rachelle Cassity Memorial Clinic at Lincoln Elementary School, the Dr. O'Dell Clinic at Terry Heights Elementary School, and the Burt Memorial Clinic at West Huntsville Elementary School. HEALS first opened its doors next to Lincoln Elementary School on January 15, 1999. The Cassity Memorial Clinic has been operating for nearly six years. During that time, health care has been available for all Lincoln Elementary students and their families, and students at the adjoining Head Start Center.

Four pioneers namely, Priscilla Condon, CRNP; Carol Ann Brown, MSW; Rochelle Cassity, MD; and Jim Black (deceased principal of Lincoln Elementary) collaborated to address the health and social issues that plagued students and families. According to Condon, head lice infestation was a major problem at that time. On a typical day, the clinic saw students with head lice infestation in the morning, noon, and evening. This problem led to a large number of absences; the health care staff and school administrators had to find a solution. Long hours were spent "nit picking" and in some cases, parents failed to follow simple instructions given by the nurse practitioner and/or doctor to eradicate the nits or lice. Eventually, this health problem was brought under control as parents became more involved by working closely with the HEALS staff.

HEALS' school-based clinics offer a medical home for students and their siblings. More importantly, HEALS offers much more than immediate relief of physical symptoms. The clinics offer a safe environment and a safety net for children and families where social, medical, emotional, and family problems are treated in a respectable and caring atmosphere. Students who often go home to an empty house come to the clinic after school to share with a caring adult their successes and struggles of the day. Homework assistance, hugs, and caring abound. The presence of medical and social services staff allows the clinic to focus on healing the body and educating the client and their families to reduce and/or avoid future problems.

Providing Quality Care
Together, HEALS three clinics have had over 10,000 patient encounters. As of June 2005, 84 percent of Lincoln's 206-student total enrollment has medical insurance; 70 percent of Terry Heights' student population (236 students) has medical coverage; and 75 percent of West Huntsville's 290 students have medical coverage as well. Another benefit to students at the HEALS' clinics is the Partners Achieving Literacy (PAL) reading program to assist struggling readers who read to dogs and cats. At the end of the 2005 Camp Success program, 75 students participated in the PAL program and 100 percent of the students graduated.

With less than two percent of the students at all three Title 1 schools diagnosed with asthma, HEALS collaborates with the American Lung Association in Birmingham, Alabama to recruit these students to attend CampwheezeAway each summer. Again, HEALS' dental clinic has provided $893,839 worth of dental services to students in the Huntsville City Schools system, and has seen 6,929 students to date. The pitfalls facing HEALS clinics are long-term funding/sustainability, rising operation costs, and underutilization of the clinic services by some parents.

Family care professionals who wish to implement a similar program like HEALS, Inc. in his/her city can certainly begin by doing their research. First, family care professionals must ascertain the need for primary and preventative health care services in their area. Funding is available; however, the family care professional(s) will certainly spend long hours searching for funding sources. The HEALS program is a national initiative. Finally, while other states fund school-based health care programs, the state of Alabama does not.