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Media Contact:
Tim Ahlers, Director of Marketing and Community Relations
319-688-7340 or e-mail: tim.ahlers@mercyic.org
Mercy to help fund school-based clinics
December 18/Iowa City, IA: Mercy Iowa City will help fund Healthy Kids Community Care by donating $100,000 each year for the next five years (a total of $500,000) to the project. The donation will be made in the form of matching grants to the Community Foundation of Johnson County for the purpose of sustaining the school-based health clinics.
Mercy Iowa City’s mission is to heal and comfort the sick and work to improve the health of the community in the spirit of Jesus Christ and the Catholic tradition of the Sisters of Mercy. Mercy’s values are respect, excellence, compassion, stewardship and collaboration.
Ronald R. Reed, President & CEO, states, “Funding these school-based clinics is a perfect fit for Mercy. It is aligned with our mission, particularly our call to improve the health of the community. It is also a reflection of our values as an organization. There are great unmet health care needs of children in our community.”
The Community Foundation of Johnson County will hold and manage the funds in an endowment. Mike Stoffregen, Director of the Community Foundation of Johnson County, explains “An endowment ensures funding will be sustained in future years.” The United Way of Johnson County, the Community Foundation of Johnson County, and the Iowa City Community School District Foundation will raise donations to the Healthy Kids Endowment by promoting the Healthy Kids Initiative.
The Iowa City Community School District will use the funds to establish and maintain the school-based health clinics. Dr. Lane Plugge, Superintendent, states “the Iowa City Community School District is excited to host the clinics. Schools are where students spend the majority of their day, and schools already have a relationship with students and families. The school district is pleased to help meet the unmet health care needs of children.”
Healthy Kids Community Care is a community collaboration for children who do not have affordable access to health care. Regular clinics will be established at school sites in the Iowa City Community School District, eventually expanding to other Johnson County school districts. The clinics will provide free services to children in the school district and their younger siblings. The clinics will be staffed by pediatric nurse practitioners, physicians, social workers, and dentists. Health care services are intended to serve families without access to affordable health care and those without a health care provider.
The clinics will provide the following services:
- Physical examinations for school or sports
- Immunizations
- Treatment of minor illness (i.e., ear infection, strep throat)
- X-rays (done at Mercy Hospital)
- Basic lab tests (i.e., throat cultures, urine tests)
- Complex lab testing (done at Mercy Hospital)
- Prescriptions for medications
- Health education and counseling
- Referral for complex medical conditions
- Referral for counseling services
- Assistance for families needing a health care provider
- Assistance for families applying for Title XIX or hawk-I
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