Iowa City school-based clinics seeing more patients, seeking more funds
With few other options, more Iowa City area families are seeking out local school-based clinics as a last-resort for healthcare needs.
Local doctors behind Healthy Kids School-based Health Clinics, a small network of clinics for kids who do not have adequate access to healthcare, say they are seeing more uninsured students using the clinic as a primary provider.
“The number of patients is just increasing every year,” said Dr. Marguerite Oetting, a founder of the clinic and a pediatrician at the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics. “This year has been dramatic.”
The clinic, one of a few of its kind in the state, sets up shop on certain days at a few Iowa City Community School campuses, including City High, Northwest Junior High and South East Junior High School. Doctors in the community volunteer time, and the operation is funded in large part by United Way of Johnson County and through fundraisers like a family 5K taking place this September.
What: Get Moving for Healthy Kids 5K walk/run fundraiser
Where: Liberty High School
When: 7:15 a.m. Sept. 15
For more information, visit getmovingforhealthykids.org. Click “Race Details” to register online.
The clinic was formed as a kind of safety net by local doctors and ICCSD’s newly-retired health services coordinator.
In total, the clinics also serve roughly 1,000 students a year — or one in 14 students who attend ICCSD. By organizer’s estimates, doctors are serving around 200 students in the area this year who have no other option for healthcare services other than the clinic that sets up shop at their school. The number of students who use the clinics as their primary provider has increased by 60 over the last five years.
The idea was sparked by a conference in the early 2000s, addressing issues that prevent students from learning. Lack of access to medical services was high on the list.
Patti Fields, vice president for community impact and engagement, says Johnson County has new options for kids who are under-insured.
Clinics in the area would simply be overwhelmed with patients if the Healthy Kids clinics closed tomorrow, by Field’s estimation. United Way of Johnson County estimates that 4% of people under the age of 18 do not have access to healthcare in Johnson County.
This happens for a myriad of reasons: Sometimes parents are unable to get on Medicaid, because of residence status. Sometimes parents are able to get on insurance, but are unable to leave work to take a child to the doctor’s office, or a parents’ insurance only covers for catastrophes, not basic, routine care.
Not having adequate access to healthcare can quickly lead to roadblocks at school. Without a physical, students can’t join an extracurricular activity, which is a critical way students develop social community and interest in school, explains Dr. Oetting. She adds that without access to healthcare, minor chronic health problems can snowball leading to students missing time in school.
“If you have asthma and you can’t get an inhaler, you may miss school — if you just had the inhaler, you’d be able to go,” she said. “One of the number one reasons kids miss school across the nation is dental pain.”
More patients means a need for more space
The increase in patients could be due to an increase in need in the community. Though Dr. Pete Wallace, who helped found the clinic while working as a pediatrician at Mercy Iowa City, hopes more students are coming to the clinics simply because more families are aware the services exist at their school, or nearby schools.
“What we like to think is the clinics are becoming more known to families,” he said. “It’s more common knowledge that they are there.”
In any case, more students are using the services, and the clinic is looking to expand.
Iowa City schools have located a spot. The third and final phase of construction at Liberty High will include a space earmarked for the clinic. Construction is expected to wrap up in 2020.
The funds raised at the upcoming 5K will go toward the clinic’s endowment, which pays the wages for a healthcare coordinator and other costs at the location. So far, the 5K has raised $112,000.
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