TEXAS CITY — The Teen Health Clinic that has been operating in the Texas City school district will need financial support to keep its doors open after its three-year state grant expires in August.
The clinic, which offers free health services to children, students and young adults living in Galveston County, is at Blocker Middle School.
Started in June 2003 with the help of a $275,000 grant from the Texas Department of State Health Services, the clinic at Blocker has handled more than 7,500 acute medical visits.
Lisa Unger, executive director of the Teen Health Clinic, said the facility has also provided more than 1,700 immunizations and about 350 mental health counseling sessions.
“I think the clinic in Texas City has filled a huge gap in the community and helped make proper health care available to youth on the mainland,” said Unger. “Our goal is to help keep children healthy so they can stay in school and learn. I think the clinic at Blocker has been a tremendous success.”
Teen Health Clinic is a private, nonprofit organization governed by a board of directors composed of community members.
All Galveston County residents under the age of 23 are eligible for free services from the Teen Health Clinic. The clinic does not bill patients, Medicaid or private insurances, said Unger.
There are five Teen Health Clinics in Galveston County, including three clinics in the Galveston school district and one at La Marque High School.
The Teen Health Clinic has been on the island for 19 years. The clinic in La Marque opened in November.
Unger said it is rare to have so many clinics in one county. There are about 50 school-based clinics in the state, and only three school districts are awarded a grant each year to start a clinic.
State funds decrease over the life of the three-year grant.
The Blocker clinic, for example, received about $125,000 in 2003, $80,000 during the second year and about $69,000 this year, Unger said.
It cost about $130,000 a year to staff and operate the clinic, and Unger said the facility has had to rely more on community support.
“The idea is that the community step up and support the clinic to help keep it operating,” Unger said. “That is where we are now. We are trying to leverage enough financial support to keep the Blocker clinic open next year.”
The Blocker clinic receives some support from the community, from private foundations and the Mainland Communities United Way.
However, Unger said more community and school district support would be needed to keep the clinic open.
School-based clinics are a difficult venture to support, she said, and about 20 clinics have closed across the state in the last two years because of funding restraints.
“I think the Teen Health Clinic is a wonderful thing for the schools and the community,” said Dede Heidt, deputy superintendent for the Texas City school district. “The report that the clinic has provided us shows the number of children that have been seen at the clinic over the year is staggering. It has probably helped us tremendously with our attendance rates.”
Heidt said the district provides the clinic free electricity and space.
Heidt said she could not comment on whether the district could provide financial support for the clinic, but said the district is looking forward to seeing a proposal from the clinic.
Melissa Tortorici, the school district spokesperson, said the school board usually begins serious budget discussions in mid-July, which would likely be when support for the clinic would be considered.
A family nurse practitioner and a health aide are on staff at the Blocker clinic, as well as a part-time psychologist.
Unger said she spends about a third of her time at the Texas City clinic. The medical director for Teen Health Clinic, Dr. Richard Rupp, is on-call 24 hours.
Rupp is a pediatrician at the University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston and specializes in adolescent medicine, said Unger. He reviews 10 percent of the charts from the Blocker clinic.
“We are also audited on a quarterly and annual basis by several state and private agencies,” Unger said. “So there is a lot of attention to detail and what’s happening at the clinics.”
Well-child visits and sports physicals are among the services provided by the clinic, as well as full lab workups when necessary.
Unger said the clinic also has had more than 500 visits by faculty and staff in the Texas City school district.
However, those visits do require a small co-pay, she said.
The Teen Health Clinic also gives presentations in the community and in the classrooms.
“I appreciate the clinic because it is an outreach program,” said Blocker Middle School Principal Richard Carter. “It is a corporative effort between the district, community and the Teen Health Clinic (organization). It is something for the entire county, and I think that is neat. Everyone deserves an equal opportunity to health care.”
+++
• During the 2003-04 school year Teen Health Clinics provided more than 14,475 acute medical visits at its Galveston and Texas City sites.
• About 37 percent of Teen Health Clinic patients are underinsured or have no medical insurance.
• Children under the age of 18 are required to provide parental consent forms before they receive services.
• Students who receive services at a Teen Health Clinic are not counted absent from school, which keeps the school district from loosing state money because of declining daily attendance.
• Teen Health Clinic does not provide family planning services.
