The Meridian Public School District and Greater Meridian Health Clinic, Inc., are on the cusp of an agreement to establish health clinics, staffed by Greater Meridian Health Clinic personnel, at district schools.

MPSD Superintendent Amy Carter said a reduction of nurses, sparked by shrinking federal funding, has created a need for the district to look outside for health care options. She said the district is slated to have either two or three nurses on staff for the coming school year, a number that’s down from previous years. Last school year, she said, four nurses were working in the district, which serves about 5,550 students.

“To be able to look at the reduction in nursing services we have, and to be able to provide more of a service (through the agreement) is advantageous for us,” Carter said. “It would benefit our students and our teachers.”

Carter said she was aware of other school districts who had developed partnerships with their regional health service centers in the face of dwindling federal funds.

“The goal is to be able, this year, to work with the nurses that we have as we begin to roll out or implement a clinic a time,” she added.

A specific goal, she said, is to have one clinic in place in October in a mobile unit next to T. J. Harris Upper Elementary School. That clinic, she said, would also be available for use by George Washington Carver Middle School, Oakland Heights Elementary School and T.J. Harris Lower Elementary School.

The agreement does not involve any financial transaction, Carter said. She said the district’s school board, which has already heard a presentation about the plan, is slated to vote on the agreement at its July 17 meeting. The agreement is also subject to approval by the Greater Merdian Health Clinic’s Board of Directors.

Wilbert L. Jones, CEO of Greater Meridian Health Clinic, Inc., said many of the district’s students are already patients of the clinic. 

 “It would just be a stronger link to a continuation of care,” Jones said. 

Jones said the plan is to staff the clinics with nurse practitioners and other medical professionals. He said the clinics would provide places for sick children to receive treatment, as well preventive care and other services.

Payment for service, under the plan, would be the responsibility of the patient or patient’s family. Jones stressed the clinic’s acceptance of insurance and the presence of a sliding fee scale.

“Our system is based on family size and income,” Jones said. “They would go on a sliding fee scale if necessary. We do bill private insurance.”

He said the clinic accepts Medicaid, Medicare, TRICARE and all managed care plans in Mississippi.

Carter said the plan could help to fill a void that may be making it hard for students, in some cases, to attend school.

“From a school district standpoint, any time you’re looking at students with medical needs, social needs, you tend to worry about attendance rates, and you tend to worry about dropout rates,” Carter said. “We see this as a benefit for the school district because we’ll have an opportunity to fill in that void. If you have a sick little one, and a parent’s working full-time, it may be that they can’t get them to the doctor on that particular day. Now, that service will be offered at the school.”

Jones said that as the program develops, the plan is to “be providing services led by family nurse practitioners on site.” He said clinic hours would correspond to school hours.

Additional services including dental care, he said, would be “added as we develop this program.” He noted the possibility of dental screening, cleaning and other dental services.

Jones said other area health care providers may contribute to the program as well, in ways to be determined as the plan develops.

Jones said the clinics would, by law, be available for public use. Carter said the clinics would be stationed away from school activity, and she and Jones said strong security measures would be in place.

Carter and Jones noted the possibility that, with the downturn of federal funding, some nurses once hired by the school district may in the future be hired by Greater Meridian Health Clinic to work with students.

“As we’re looking at the concept, what tends to happen is most school districts get to a place where they don’t necessarily have the funds to fund school nurses,” Carter said. “So we see this as an opportunity to keep the services on campus and allow current school nurses to work in a capacity that they love and that serve the students in a school environment.”

Carter said the district’s long-term goal “would be having services available at each of our schools.” Jones noted dental programs, nutritional information and “quite a few other opportunities that we have and can bring to the table” as developing over time in this new partnership with the school district.