3 November 2014 By Rafael Otto
School-Based Health Alliance Launches Inter-State Policy Learning Labs
Washington, DC – Maureen Hinman, policy director for the Oregon School-Based Health Alliance, will travel to Washington, DC, this week for the launch of the School-Based Health Alliance’s new policy collaborative initiative.The Oregon School-Based Health Alliance will lead a diverse team, including representatives from the Oregon Health Authority, Oregon Primary Care Association, Medicaid, public health, and CareOregon to develop policies and activities that will further integrate school-based health care within Oregon’s health care system.
The School-Based Health Alliance will support Oregon and the other state teams with virtual learning sessions, a web-based forum for state-to-state exchange, site visits, and coaching. The School-Based Health Alliance will also share best practices from the collaborative with the national school-based health care field.
“Policymakers in Oregon and across the nation are increasingly looking to cut costs in our health care system,” said Hinman. “Our goal in this policy collaborative is to rethink how health care is delivered to children and youth and to advance solutions that shift resources and attention to prevention and early intervention. Schools and school-based health centers (SBHCs) are a great setting to accomplish these goals.”
As Oregon continues to implement policies to achieve the triple aim of health care reform—better care, improved outcomes, lower costs—preventative care and early-intervention will be critical indicators of success. Hinman and colleagues from Connecticut, Illinois, and New York will develop policy recommendations to ensure school-based health care is an integral component of their state’s and the nation’s health care system. This project is part of a grant provided to the School-Based Health Alliance from the Atlantic Philanthropies in July, 2014.
“School-based health care is a critical component of a higher functioning primary care system for children and adolescents,” said John Schlitt, president of School-Based Health Alliance. “But we’ve got to be part of the redesign process. Oregon has a long history of political support for SBHCs and is well positioned to propel them within their state’s systems transformation efforts. We have high expectations for their success.”
In addition to the multi-state policy collaborative, the $2.5 million Atlantic Philanthropies grant is enabling the School-Based Health Alliance to develop a leadership fellows program to build the next generation of school-based health care leaders and a data center that will demonstrate the full power of SBHCs to current and emerging health care markets and other stakeholders.
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About the Oregon School-Based Health Alliance
The Oregon School-Based Health Alliance is a statewide nonprofit organization based in Portland that supports existing SBHCs and works to improve and expand school-based health services to support the health and academic success of children and youth. osbha.org
Oregon School-Based Health Center Facts
- Oregon has 68 certified School-Based Health Centers (SBHCs)
- SBHCs operate in 20 Oregon counties
- 8 sites are currently in the planning phase
- SBHCs served over 23,000 students in more than 70,000 visits (2013)
- 74 percent of students estimated they would miss one class or more in order visit an off-site clinic (2013)
- $3 to $4 additional dollars are leveraged through local public-private partnerships for every $1 of state General Fund money invested
About the School-Based Health Alliance
The School-Based Health Alliance is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization that was founded in 1995. We are the national voice for school-based health care. We serve the school-based health care field by providing technical assistance, resources, and trainings so they can provide the best-quality health care to their patients. In addition, we advocate for policies on the local, state, and federal level that strengthen school health. We support our technical assistance and advocacy work—and the entire school-based health care field—through quality research and evaluation. For more information, please visit www.sbh4all.org. To schedule an interview with John Schlitt, please email Kyle Taylor at ktaylor@sbh4all.org.
About the Atlantic Philanthropies
For more than 30 years, the Atlantic Philanthropies has made grants to advance opportunity and lasting change for those who are unfairly disadvantaged or vulnerable to life's circumstances. As a limited life foundation, Atlantic make grants through Ageing, Children and Youth, Population Health, Reconciliation and Human Rights, and Founding Chairman Programmes. Atlantic is active in Northern Ireland, the Republic of Ireland, and the United States.
