Southwest Utah Community Health Center opens a new clinic at Millcreek High School in partnership with Washington County School District and Intermountain Healthcare!
St. George, Utah - Wearing matching "Work of Heart" T-shirts, Millcreek High School 11th-grader Wendy Gonzalez and her 8-month-old son, David, watched the ribbon cutting of a new community health center.
Located behind the school, the Millcreek High Health Center is under the umbrella of the Southwest Utah Community Health Center, which provides accessible, quality health care regardless of financial, language or cultural barriers.
Gonzalez said she and her son have health insurance, but the rest of her family doesn't.
"I know a lot of people that will come here," she said.
Some of the reasons Gonzalez said the center will be popular with people she knows is because the center operates on a sliding fee scale for those without insurance and is nearby for her family members who don't drive.
Another big plus is the bilingual staff, which with her Spanish-speaking relatives will ensure they are receiving the proper medical care without the worries of a language barrier.
Millcreek High School Principal Terry Ogborn said she is so excited about the partnership between the school district, Intermountain Healthcare and the Southwest Utah Community Health Center that made the health center a reality.
"This is a dream come true," Ogborn said. "A majority of our students are lower income and don't have the luxury of health care."
The school, with an onsite daycare, has about 20 students with small children and another eight expectant mothers.
Ogborn said the school also has a population of students that is basically on its own and has limited access to health care.
Having a health center on site takes one more burden off the students and helps them find success.
Nancy Neff, CEO of the Southwest Utah Community Health Center, said the it will open June 1 with physician's assistant Jay Lott and on July 1, will have dental care on Tuesdays and Thursdays, provided Chad Booth, DMD.
The new satellite office will provide family health care services primarily for Washington County School District students and staff that are uninsured.
Those groups will get special rates - $10 for students and $20 for staff that has no health care insurance.
The same pay rate is also available at the other clinic, Neff said.
Last year, the health center had 13,500 patient visits and Neff expects the center at Millcreek will have about 20 patient visits a day, with an expected 10 visits per day for the dental center.
Across the country, many community health centers are located at schools, but the Millcreek center is only the sixth in the state, second to be operated by a community health center and the first at a high school.
Chris Coons, regional vice president of the southwest region for Intermountain Healthcare, said the partnership came about after meetings with the school district and health center.
Coons said by helping people find a medical home, it keeps people out of emergency rooms, which are more expensive and don't meet basic health care needs.
Waiting for treatment is detrimental as diseases and conditions may progress and be more difficult and costly to treat.
Coons said preventative health care saves money and gives the patient a better quality of life and quality of care.
Intermountain Healthcare Foundation donates money back into the communities and a grant specifically for children will provide ongoing funding for old an portable classroom that was transformed into a clinic.
At the well-attended ribbon cutting, Neff said the clinic will be cutting edge and the health center is adding staff to continually meet the growing health care needs of the community.
Coons said the collaborative effort of the organizations involved in the new clinic shows how a community can come together to provide health care for a local group.
St. George Spectrum
