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By Editor Becky Watts
ZEBULON - Local pediatrician Dr. Mark Coker asked to address the Pike County Chamber of Commerce at their regular monthly meeting on Friday, January 27, 2012. He spoke to the twelve members about the Schoo. Dr. Coker expressed his concerns and suggestions for this SBHC and its possible effects on those who are currently providing services in the Pike County community. His concerns were then addressed at this meeting by a Y.E.S. Team Board Member and Michael Powell, Director of Pike County’s You Equal Success (Y.E.S.) Team, Inc. who are also members of the Pike County Chamber of Commerce.
The planning for a proposed SBHC would be funded through a $10,000 grant that has been provided through Emory University Department of Pediatrics Urban Health Planning. The grant was applied for by Pike County’s You Equal Success (Y.E.S.) Team, Inc. which is part of the Georgia Family Connection partnership. Members of the community and medical providers are meeting as part of a strategy planning team that will produce a plan for the Pike County SBHC. This is an eight month long process with monthly and quarterly meetings to determine the goals and procedures of the Pike County version of this SBHC.
More than 300,000 children in Georgia are uninsured and have limited access to routine healthcare according to a November 2, 2010 press release about the Emory Urban Health Program released by the Georgia Family Connection Partnership. One way to provide care to those who have limited access to healthcare is through school-based health clinics as part of a $3 million gift from the Zeist Foundation. The first eleven grants for school-based clinics were awarded in 2010 with seven grants being awarded in 2011. Pike County is one of those seven counties that have been awarded this year.
Veda Johnson, MD, Executive Director of Emory University Department of Pediatrics Urban Health Planning and co-founder of the Whitefoord Community Program's school-based clinics, was the guest speaker at the School-Based Health Center Lunch and Learn in Zebulon on December 15, 2011. This program was presented by Pike County’s You Equal Success (Y.E.S.) Team. Over fifty people were in attendance including representatives from the Pike County School System and business community as well as the Pike and Spalding County public health communities and concerned citizens. Click here to read about this meeting and explore numerous links to find out more about this program in detail.
At the January 12, 2012 meeting, about 35 community leaders and providers from Pike and surrounding counties to begin strategic planning for the proposed Pike County School Based Health Center. Michael Powell, Director of Pike County’s You Equal Success (Y.E.S.) Team, Inc, continued the discussion a SBHC in Pike County Primary School through needs assessment findings, defining what team roles would be, and coming up with a strategy for how to adapt this program to fit local needs. Click here to read about this meeting.
On Friday, January 27, 2012, Dr. Mark Coker addressed the Pike County Chamber of Commerce about his concerns with the program and its possible effects on those who are currently providing services in the Pike County community. Dr. Mark Coker has been a part of the Pike County community for four years and told Chamber members that he and his office are here to support the community. He congratulated Michael Powell, Director of Pike Community Resource Network and the Y.E.S. Group, for bringing in grant money from outside of the county for this project before expressing his concerns about how the clinic would look and how it would be run. He acknowledged that Pike County’s proposed SBHC has not been established as to “…what will be and what we won’t be…” but expressed a concern that some people may want to bring in a SBHC because there is a problem with access to services or to address absenteeism at the school.
Dr. Coker pointed out to Chamber members that there are three doctors in Pike County along with a dentist and said that there are a lot of services provided in Pike County already. He said that those providers could work together if there was a need to take care of kids in the county. And he emphasized that if there was something that the school kids needed, he would help out where needed to ensure that they were taken care of too.
Dr. Coker advised members that he worked in a SBHC in Houston, Texas and said that it was nothing like Pike County, Georgia. He said that it provided services for kids who were left out, had no insurance within an inner city culture and that kids were often seen without the parents because the parents had signed a parental consent even for psychiatric and other health issues. He said that he wasn’t happy working there and that “It frightens me to think of an inner city School Based Heath Center coming to Pike County, Georgia.” He stressed the importance of making sure that the program is needed and that it fits Pike County culture.
He also expressed concerns with the SBHC planning process because participants from prior meetings have said that there was an emphasis on kids being able to meet with a doctor so that parents don’t have to take off time from work. Dr. Coker said that he was concerned with legal and ethical issues with a program like this as well as the nuts and bolts in the process.
Dr. Coker asked the Chamber to congratulate the Y.E.S. Team for trying to address the needs of the kids in school but asked that this clinic be focused on providing services that are not already being provided in the community. “Let’s not bring in a lot of businesses rent free, utilities free, in-kind services paid for by the taxpayer indirectly through the school system to provide care from someone we don’t know, who won’t be here tomorrow--it will be the next doctor that runs through the next month.” He pointed out that an unlevel playing field would be divisive in the community and asked that care be taken to plug kids into the services that are currently provided in the community “because these local providers are here to make Pike County a better place.”
Several Y.E.S. Team Board Members are currently on the Chamber of Commerce. Board Member Brent Huckaby responded by saying, “I think that one of the things that’s going on is that there’s information flying around that’s rumored--that’s not fixed yet,” he said. “There’s nothing decided yet.” He said that what has been decided is that the county has the ability to get the grant and the Y.E.S group is in the process of getting information out to the strategy teams to get this set up. He went on to say that doctors in Pike County have been invited to give their insight on the SBHC in order for the participants to make a sound decision. Brent stressed that no one has voted on anything yet and that work is ongoing to decide what to do as a community.
Y.E.S. Team Director Mike Powell emphasized that this is a process where: “If we have a need, we want to meet it and if it’s a need that doesn’t need to be met, we aren’t going to touch it.” He went on to say that working through this process is difficult but emphasized working together as a team to find out what is needed. He also said that he appreciated Dr. Coker voicing his concerns and said that Dr. Coker’s concerns are concerns for him too. “How do we do it right? How do we do it well to best serve this community because Pike County is, like you said, very unique to itself and the school is a hub of all that.”
Director Powell ended by saying that Dr. Coker has his [Powell’s] partnership and that he looks forward to Dr. Coker being partnered with him as well. Dr. Coker asked for some structure in upcoming meetings including lines drawn in the sand of “what we’re not going to do and what we are going to do” and he stressed the importance of staying within cultural norms by laying out particular parameters as a committee. Director Michael Powell also addressed Dr. Coker’s concerns by saying part of the February 8th meeting will be defining what the lines will be for the SBHC: “What can we live with? What can we not live with?”
Brent Huckaby explained that Emory is the facilitator of the grant but advised that Michael Powell has explained to him that there is no grant requirement to use Emory doctors at this SBHC. Brent said that members of the SBHC Board do not want to bring in people who would be competing with local doctors in this economy.
Working together for the good of the community was emphasized by all participants in this discussion. Working together as a community to make the schools better and taking care of the kids was stressed several times as well. Pike County Times has reported on past meetings for the proposed School Based Health Center and will continue to report as this group of citizens and providers meets to discuss the grant.
Participants have been split into teams to work separately on revenue, services, and facilities and then come together as a group to produce a plan for the Pike County School Based Health Center by August 31, 2012. This strategy plan must be completed and submitted to Emory University by September 1, 2012 with implementation of the plan required by September or October of 2012. After completing the planning process, the Strategy Planning Team will develop an implementation plan for presentation to the Pike County YES Team Board of Directors for consideration. Contingent upon their approval, the plan will then be presented to the School System Superintendent for consideration. Presentation to the Board of Education for final approval is contingent upon the Superintendent’s approval.
Upcoming Meetings:
Strategy Team Chair Persons will meet with Regina Abbott and Mike Powell on the second Wednesday of each month on March 14, April 11, June 13, and July 11 from 12 noon to 1 p.m. Following the meeting on February 8, 2012, the next quarterly meeting with all strategic planning teams will be May 9, 2012. A strategic planning workshop is planned for August 8, 2012 from 8:30 a.m. until 12:30 p.m. There is still time for volunteers to be a part of the strategic planning of this School Based Health Center initiative.
The next meeting, presented by the Pike Community Resource Network, will be held on February 8, 2012 from 12 noon to 1 p.m. at the Professional Learning Center Meeting Room #2 located in the old Pike County Middle/High School (next to Ruth's Restaurant). RSVP by February 6, 2011 to Michael Powell at 770-567-2930 or powellm@pike.k12.ga.us.
Additional Resources:
Click here to read the January 20, 2012 article entitled “Strategic Planning Begins for School Based Health Clinic”.
Click here to read the December 28, 2011 article entitled "School-Based Health Clinic Grant Awarded". This article has links so that readers can look into the program in depth. This article has links so that readers can look into the program in depth.
Click here to read the December 1, 2011 article about this Lunch and Learn and link to information that was distributed to the Pike County Board of Commissioners in the November night meeting.