King County, Auburn Mountainview High School and Sea Mar Community Health Centers celebrated the opening of the first school-based health center located in the Auburn School District March 7.
School-based health centers offer health services to students at their school – usually for no cost and have positive impacts on students’ well-being and school participation. These health centers began in King County in 1989 as a pilot program at Rainier Beach High School and now extend throughout King County, including 36 clinics in elementary, middle, and high schools. They are operated in partnership between Best Starts for Kids, the City of Seattle, Public Health – Seattle & King County, community partners, and school districts.
The benefits of school-based health centers are vast. Many students are unable to attend a medical appointment off-campus because they don’t have access to transportation and parents are working jobs that make it difficult to transport the child. In some cases, the parents don’t have resources to regularly access care.
“The opening of this clinic means that students will not have as many barriers, students will have their needs taken care of and they will have fewer absence and parents will not have to take time off of work,” said Mountainview student and Youth Advisory Committee Member, Nya Tet, at the open house event. “This will help students advocate for themselves, their peers, and even their parents.”
Students can access direct services such as:
- Annual checkups
- Vaccinations
- Asthma care
- Sports physicals
- Contraception
- Mental health counseling
When students can access care at school, they can get quickly back to class and focus on learning.
In addition to addressing physical and mental health concerns, school-based health centers also promote good health for a lifetime through nutrition education, promoting supportive relationships, and reinforcing of positive self-images. School-based health centers also support academic achievement and students who use the services have better attendance and grades.
In the 2022-23 school year, these clinics provided services to nearly 9,000 individual students seeking medical and mental health care that resulted in nearly 40,000 visits.
The new clinic
Sea Mar has expertise in reaching and supporting Latinx/a/o communities with culturally competent care. In their application Sea Mar expressed commitment to reaching young people from under resourced communities, including young people who are immigrants, BIPOC, and LGBTQ+.
“We are so excited to move into our renovated permanent space within the school that will allow us to expand the services provided to students,” said Marlen Mendez, Health Center Administrator for Sea Mar. “We continue to be grateful for the strong partnership between Sea Mar and Auburn School District and are looking forward to continuing to serve the needs of the students and the community at large.”
The event
City officials, representatives from Public Health – Seattle & King County, King County’s Department of Community and Human Services, and Best Starts for Kids attended the open house Thursday to celebrate the opening.
“The enormous benefits of having health services directly on a school campus through School-Based Health Centers include eliminating barriers to access for youth and children – which improves both school and health outcomes for youth. Expanding this access for basic services in Auburn, including mental health care, will help address opportunity gaps. And it supports caregivers who may not be able to transport children to appointments during workdays,” said Dr. Faisal Khan, director of Public Health—Seattle & King County.
Background
The clinic in Auburn is funded through Best Starts for Kids with $357,000 annually for operations and an additional one-time $350,000 capital grant.
Last year King County announced the opening of a new School Based Health Center in Highline School District, with $350,000 in funding through Best Starts. Additionally, Best Starts announced a $2.4 million partnership with the Ballmer Group in 2023 that will extend through 2026 to fund culturally responsive mental health care enhancements. These enhancements are available across existing clinics in Seattle Public Schools, Bellevue, and Highline school districts.
