SBHC Spotlight: Washington County

 

Washington County currently operates two SBHC's at South Hagerstown High School and Western Heights Middle School. Meritus Health assumed administration of the Washington County SBHC's in 2013 in conjunction with the Washington County Public School System and the Washington County Government. 

 

Since the beginning of the 2014-15 school year, there has been a 40% increase in enrollment in the program with a current total of 253 students. In the 2013-2014 school year there were a total of 647 SBHC visits. This school year, the SBHC's have already recorded 307 health visits.


In addition to medical care and preventative education, students have access to mental health services through Brook Lane, dental care through the Walnut Street Community Health Centers Mobile Dentistry program, and nutritional services through the Meritus Community Outreach Program. The Washington County SBHC's are currently staffed by one nurse practitioner and one licensed practical nurse 4 days a week, 2 behavioral health counselors 2 days a week each, a nutritionist by appointment. The mobile dentistry program sees students on a rotating schedule. The SBHC is available to all students enrolled in each school and services remain free of charge to all. Students are seen for chronic health management as well as acute illnesses, injuries and preventative health services. 

School Based Health Awareness Month

 

February is School Based Health Awareness Month! Its a great opportunity to increase the visibility of your SBHC as well as an opportunity to celebrate the work and successes of your SBHC in caring for your students and school communities

 

There are many ways to promote School Based Health Awareness Month,click here for resources as well as potential Facebook posts and tweets!
    
If you have any events or materials from your SBHC that you would like to promote as part of SBHC Awareness Month, you can send them to MASBHC's Project Manager, Sapna Hencinski at 
shencinski.masbhc@gmail.com to be posted on MASBHC's website and social media platforms. 

2015 ADVOCACY DAY

There is still time to register for MASBHC's Annual Advocacy Day. Advocacy Day will take place this coming Monday Evening, February 9th from 4:30 pm to 8 pm in Annapolis.Click here to register.

Advocacy Day is a great way to participate in School-Based Health Care Awareness Month! We will be advocating for the Council for the Advancement of School-Based Health Center Act. With this legislation, MASBHC is working with sponsors Delegate Bonnie Cullison (Montgomery County) and Senator Rich Madaleno (Montgomery County) to put SBHCs front and center in State policy discussions about health care and educational reform.The Act creates a Council with high-level State leadership to move SBHCS forward. Click here more information on Advocacy Day and to register. 
SBHA Leadership Fellow: Letitia Dzirasa, Baltimore Medical System 

 The School Based Health Alliance has launched its first cohort of fellows for their Leadership Fellows Program (LFP). One of the ten fellows selcted is Letita Dzirasa, Medical Director for school based health at Baltimore Medical System. 

Letitia Dzirasa, MD, is currently serving as the medical director for school based health at Baltimore Medical System (BMS), the largest federally qualified health center in the Baltimore region. In addition to her role as medical director of school based health, Dr. Dzirasa also leads the pediatric working group, a specialty related group developed to help enhance healthcare to pediatric patients BMS serves. She is also involved in the clinical leadership council, the childhood obesity prevention task force, the provision of care committee, the quality committee, the management council and the clinician compensation committee. She was appointed by the Governor to sit on Maryland's School Based Health Policy Advisory Council to help address state wide policy issues related to school-based health care in Maryland.

The LFP was created to developed the school-based health care leaders of tomorrow. Ten individuals were selected from around the nation and they represent a variety of disciplines in the school-based health care field. Over the next year, they will hone their leadership skills by assessing their strengths, building relationships, and learning about the foundations of creating change and community benefit. The goal of the LFP is to cultivate new leaders to re-energize the field and replace the long-time advocates.Visit the SBHA website to learn more.
MASBHC 2015 ANNUAL CONFERENCE

 

MASBHC's 2015 Annual Conference will be held on Tuesday May 19th, 2015 at The Gathering Place, located in Clarksville, Maryland. This year's conference theme is, Leading the Way for School-Based Health Care in Maryland. Early Bird Registration is now open
Maryland Health Systems Changes Forum

Health Care for All will be hosting forums all across the state in order to get the word out that Maryland is pioneering a new care model in which hospitals place a larger emphasis on prevention and also strengthen their relationships with other health providers in their communities. The forums will also focus on innovative collaborations between health care institutions and faith communities and consider how to implement these models locally. 

Health Care for All's website includes the location and date for all the forums. All are welcome! If you or anyone in your network would like to attend one of these meetings, please RSVP to Stephanie Klapper at stephanie@healthcareforall.com or 410-235-9000.