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This Program information provided by the Adolescent Health Section of the Office of Family Health Services.
School Based Health Centers: Frequently Asked Questions
What is a School-Based Health Center?
School-Based Health Centers (SBHCs) are a national model designed to ease access to health care by reducing the barriers that have historically prevented adolescents from seeking the health services they need including inconvenience, cost, transportation, concerns surrounding confidentiality, and apprehension about discussing personal health problems. The practitioners provide a full range of services for all students, regardless of whether or not they have health insurance coverage.
What are the goals?
Where are they?
2006 marked the 20-year anniversary of SBHCs in Oregon. The first center opened in Multnomah County in February 1986 at Roosevelt High School. Since then, they have doubled each decade making it possible for three times more clients to be seen.
Oregon’s 45 SBHCs are located in 19 counties in urban, suburban, rural and frontier communities (click here for Map). They are located on elementary (9), middle (4), high (28), and combined grades (4) school campuses.
Who uses them?
The centers provide healthcare access to more than 39,000 students. During the 2006-2007 school year, nearly 21,000 students received services in over 69,000 visits. In some instances, the centers provide services to siblings, families, and community members as well.
Services are available to students regardless of their ability to pay, insurance status, race, color, national origin, religion, immigration status, sexual orientation, handicap, or gender. Reasonable accommodations are made to provide confidential services to non-English speaking students.
What services do they offer?
Why they work?
The SBHCs are located on school grounds and are open and operating when the kids are in school. As a result, students are back in class faster than had they sought health care in a non-SBHC setting. Additionally, parents do not need to take time off work in order to transport the sick student to a doctor. SBHCs provide accessible, comprehensive, and confidential health care services to Oregon youth through public and private partnerships (e.g. schools, health departments, community providers, hospitals).
What drives the quality of care?
Oregon's SBHCs are staffed by trained, licensed professionals deeply committed to serving the health care needs of young people. Numerous required protocols are in place in order to maintain a high standard of care. Taking that a step further, Oregon SBHCs have certification standards to reduce site-to site variability. For more information, please view Oregon SBHC Certification Standards.
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