Earlier this year, Columbia Public Schools opened a brand new school based health clinic for CPS students - it's called the Scholar Clinic, and it's located at 1010 Rangeline Street in the Eugene Field Center.
KBIA's Anna Spidel sat down with Dr. Brian Yearwood, Columbia Public Schools Superintendent, and Mat Gass, Central region president of Brightli - the parent company to Clarity Healthcare, as the two discussed the new clinic and the partnership between their organizations.
"Just having a place to go and knowing that I don't have to worry about a medical bill following me speaks volumes"Columbia Public Schools Superintendent Brian Yearwood
SPIDEL: So we're here to talk about, you know, the ways in which you are partnered. For both of you, what does that look like on the on the Brightli side of things, and on the CPS side of things?
YEARWOOD: For us, we have a great need because we know that attendance is key. And one of the issues that we found is that our scholars miss [school] because of illness, because of not having access to true medical care - and we wanted to mitigate that.
And by working with Mr. Gass, we were able to bring a dream into reality. Again, you know, we saw a need, and we're just very grateful that Clarity has been able to step up and help us to achieve that need so scholars can have a more quality experience.
GASS: It's sort of a dream come true, right? So for me, I'm a social worker by training. You know, a lot of your listeners are familiar with the terms of health care deserts or food deserts - there are shortages that we often think and talk about in rural communities that you absolutely see even even in a community is resource rich as Columbia.
Accessing health care is is more difficult for individuals that have barriers like poverty, or maybe you're, you know, a single parent family or even a dual parent family, you know, because of the increased rents and inflation due to food costs, people are having to work more to be able to meet those financial needs.
And so the opportunity to provide health care services where a student is naturally the majority of their day, for families that need that service and support, we really think it's going to provide some pretty significant benefits overall.
SPIDEL: How has that been received by the public public schools community and how does it make you feel as Superintendent?
YEARWOOD: Well, definitely high excitement being able to fill in gaps, especially in areas that we have that tremendous need for in the medical area.You know, in a thousand years I would have never thought that this would become a reality. But seeing that happen, I think is tremendous. And the need is there.
You know, as we look at the level of poverty that exists within our school district - about 47% of our scholars are eligible for free and reduced lunch. As a result of that there's a high population, again, that does not have insurance or access to insurance. And being able to have access to the Scholar Clinic that's exclusively for Columbia scholars changes the playing field for them.
For those that wanted to get into sports, for example, and weren't sure about getting their vaccines, or those that need special care after an event. Just having a place to go and knowing that I don't have to worry about a medical bill following me speaks volumes because, you know, that is somewhat daunting, especially for those that again, are underinsured.
