Nonprofit opens a school-based clinic at Manatee Middle School. What to know
By Liz Freeman
Children enrolled in Manatee Middle School in South Naples are getting a leg up on their health care needs.
A pilot project involving a school-based clinic began at the start of the school year. With parental permission, students are getting well-being exams and medical attention when they get sick.
The clinic is run by Healthcare Network, a longstanding nonprofit healthcare provider in the community.
The project received funding from the Naples Children & Education Foundation, NCEF, founders of the annual Naples Winter Wine Festival. The foundation uses proceeds from the wine festival to advance the well-being of Collier children.
Manatee Middle, located at 1920 Manatee Road, was recommended by the Collier County School District based on access and distance for families to medical services, said Jamie Ulmer, chief executive officer of the Healthcare Network.
As a pilot, the clinic will be evaluated for potentially going forward with clinics at other Collier schools using national best practices from a healthcare standpoint, he said.
Despite Collier’s image as a wealthy community, there is a sizable population of working families and lower-income families. About 65% of all Collier children are on Medicaid, according to Ulmer.
According to the School-Based Health Alliance, a national organization that advocates for health centers at schools, there were roughly 3,900 clinics operating in schools in 2022 in the U.S.
Research shows school-based clinics in low-income communities help children achieve not only improved health but is a factor for them performing better in school.
In 2015 the Community Preventive Services Task Force, an independent panel within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, recommended school-based clinics be established in needy communities where possible.
How did it get started?
Originally Healthcare Network applied for grant funding in 2023 from the federal Health Resources and Services Administration, HRSA, to open a school-based clinic in Immokalee. The application didn’t get approved because Healthcare Network didn’t have any school-based clinics at the time.
The federal agency is responsible for providing support for communities in need so residents have equitable access to health care.
When the grant application to the federal government did not come through, Ulmer said he went to NCEF.
Maria Jimenez-Lara, chief executive officer of NCEF, said the foundation had been looking at doing in-school clinics but it was a big idea and it never came to fruition.
When Healthcare Network stepped forward and said it could provide the direction needed, that was what was needed for the NCEF board to go forward with funding.
“For us it was a logical next step for us to support,” Jimenez-Lara said. “We had already had a conversation with the school district.”
NCEF provided $700,000 for two years, which was the amount originally sought in the federal grant, Ulmer said.
Jimenez-Lara said she knows Duval County has clinics in schools and so do schools in Miami-Dade County; from a national standpoint school-based clinics have been around for many years.
“The intent is to keep kids in school,” she said, adding that families trust schools and that extends beyond educating their children. “A school is an essential part of the community.”
Collier School district is not involved
No Collier school district funding is used and no district employees are allocated to the clinic at Manatee Middle, said Chad Oliver, spokesman for the school district. The district is providing the space at the school that was not being used.
Manatee Middle turned to be a better choice for the project over Immokalee because of the high level of unmet needs.
“In addition, the geography and access played a role in the site selection,” Oliver said. “Manatee Middle is located in South Naples, where there are fewer doctors’ offices and clinics as compared to other Collier communities.”
Before the clinic launched, students would often have to miss much of the school day for a doctor’s visit because of the driving distance, Oliver said.
Even with Medicaid, the government-based insurance, Ulmer said a parent may be hard-pressed to take time off from work to take a child to a doctor or clinic and some may lack transportation.
“There are pockets of medical deserts throughout Collier County,” Ulmer said.
Having the clinic at Manatee Middle may help toward securing federal funding down the road for other clinic locations, he said.
“We will wait and see how this year goes,” Ulmer said. “We expect HRSA will have another school-based (application) opportunity and we will have higher priority.”
What is the staffing at the clinic?
The clinic is staffed with a pediatrician, a scheduler and a medical assistant.
Appointments are scheduled at a time during the school day so students do not miss core classroom time, like math.
The students can get preventive wellness checks once or twice a year, and mental health screenings upon the family’s request, along with sick care services.
“This clinic allows us to provide our wraparound services,” he said, referring to all the screenings that Healthcare Network provides.
Before the clinic opened, the school nurse was seeing 12 students a day at Manatee Middle for various needs, so that number and an additional roughly six to eight students a day will get preventive screenings.
Parents sign a release and Medicaid or private insurance is billed. If students are not on Medicaid, they are likely undocumented and there is no billing. Healthcare Network does not check their legal status, Ulmer said.
“I believe we will see test scores increase," he said, with absenteeism going down and more kids coming to school.
Oliver, with the school district, said: “This location allows Healthcare Network to efficiently serve students, support families, and reduces absenteeism.”