Blue Heron Middle School will soon see installation of a School Based Health Center, after winning grant funding from the state legislature, according to staff with the Jefferson County …
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Blue Heron Middle School will soon see installation of a School Based Health Center, after winning grant funding from the state legislature, according to staff with the Jefferson County Health Department.
“Currently there is no School Based Health Center (SBHC) at the Blue Heron/OCEAN campus,” said Susan O’Brien, a family nurse practitioner with the county health department. “When completed, all students at Blue Heron/OCEAN will have access to mental health and comprehensive medical services on campus.”
O’Brien said those services include vaccines, injury treatment, concussion evaluation and management, health education, rashes, illness, stress, anxiety, depression and much more.
“Medical providers serving the School Based Health Centers provide health care similar to doctors and nurse practitioners at the doctor’s office and are able to order labs, x-rays and write prescriptions,” O’Brien said.
“We’ll be working with Port Townsend School District facilities to design the work project, demo and remodel of the area,” O’Brien said. “The goal is to have an operational School Based Health Center in fall of 2024.
O’Brien worked with colleagues in the county health department and other local health care and school district officials to bring the project to the legislature and ultimately win the award.
“In addition to huge efforts made by our internal team, many others in our community were instrumental in making this a success,” said O’Brien. “Huge gratitude to our community partners – Discovery Behavioral Health, Jefferson Healthcare, OWL360, Port Townsend School District Administration, Behavioral Health Consortium, the Board of County Commissioners, and D. Carlbom for writing a letter of support.”
The grant award totals $136,000 and will be used to remodel existing space at the Blue Heron campus.
“The school board is thrilled that our school-based health clinic program is expanding to include the Blue Heron Middle School/OCEAN campus,” said Linda Rosenbury, superintendent for the Port Townsend School District. “The clinics provide valuable mental health services and essential medical services including sports physicals. We are grateful that JCPH and Jefferson Healthcare have worked to expand access to more students, including the high schoolers at our alternative school, OCEAN.”
