More than 50 people came together on February 21, to celebrate the opening of the Health and Wellness Center at Lincoln Middle School in Fort Collins. The new health center gives students access to physical and behavioral healthcare services from a familiar and easily accessible location: at school.
Poudre School District Superintendent Brian Kingsley was honored to cut the ribbon alongside Merry Hummell, Health and Wellness Center director and an employee of Every Child Pediatrics, which oversees the clinic.
“When kids thrive physically, emotionally, and mentally, their families thrive, and communities thrive,” Hummell said. “I would like to thank The Colorado Health Foundation, Larimer County Behavioral Health Services, Bohemian Foundation, and the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment for their financial support of this capital project.”
About the new center:
- Hours are 8 am to 5 pm, Monday through Friday
- The center will see any PSD student enrolled for care with Every Child Pediatrics.
- There is an external entrance for non-Lincoln students and an internal entrance for Lincoln students.
- No student enrolled in care at the center is ever turned away for an inability to pay for services.
- It is 1,054 square feet.
- The Health and Wellness Center is the second school-based health center (SBHS) in PSD. There are about 70 SBHCs in Colorado and more than 3,000 across the U.S.
- The center includes space for PSD nurses, a health technician office, an observation room, a bathroom, a virtual mental and behavioral care health room, a virtual medical room, a lab for immunizations, a medical exam room, and more.
- Staffing at the center is the same as the Health and Wellness Center at Centennial High School – director, physician assistant, five patient care assistants (three are fluent in Spanish), and two mental and behavioral health specialists. Staff are shared between the two health and wellness center locations.
To learn more about the Health and Wellness Centers at Lincoln Middle School and Centennial High School, visit the Health and Wellness website.
