The Phoenix Union High School District has started offering health care services at two of its campuses.
Through a partnership with Golden Health Initiative, students and staff can make appointments with a general practitioner during the school day.
Laura Telles, the district’s chief achievement officer, said they will meet with a doctor via telehealth, but they won’t just be sitting in front of a screen in a classroom.
“GHI has given equipment to the school district where vitals and whatnot are all Bluetooth and directly report into the system,” Telles said. “The school nurse would do an initial triage to determine whether that’s something that’s appropriate.”
Students will need parent permission and parents are allowed to join the appointment online if they choose to. Telles said district officials noticed that access to health care was a community concern and surveyed schools to see which ones had the highest need.
That’s why they soft-launched the program at the Academies at South Mountain and Alhambra High School, which serves a large number of refugee families.
“They’re not only learning [a new] language and country. They’re learning how to access services,” Telles said. “So the beauty that GHI offers is they have the ability to connect with our families remotely and in a language of their choice.”
Both physical and mental health services are available at those campuses. Telles said they’re hoping that long term, the service will minimize the need for extended absences.
“So if a staff member can, on their lunch period, participate in a telemed service appointment and get what they need, then they’re not having to take a day or half day absence and be away from students,” Telles said.
She said the same goes for students in the sense that hopefully they’ll catch symptoms early and reduce the need for kids to miss school for several days due to illness.
By the end of summer the district hopes to roll out mobile units that will offer community clinics after school and on weekends. The district hopes to expand the program to more campuses in the future.
