School-Based Health Centers making a difference statewide
SANTA FE – Children in New Mexico public schools can focus more on lessons after a recent expansion of School-Based Health Centers (SBHC) has provided care that helps keep them in the classroom.
February is National School-Based Health Care Awareness month and an opportunity to celebrate successes and raise awareness about how SBHCs improve access to health care services for children and adolescents and make a difference in their lives today and in the future.
The New Mexico Department of Health’s (NMDOH) Office of School & Adolescent Health Office funds 59 of the more than 80 school-based health centers in the state. In 2024, NMDOH expanded access to health services by funding telehealth and mobile health services to students at 41 additional schools. Those NMDOH-funded centers served more than 16,000 patients in the 2023-2024 school year.
“All children and adolescents deserve to thrive and grow into the young adults we know they can be. SBHCs bring health care to where students already spend the majority of their time: in school," said Kristin Oreskovich, Clinical Operations Manager of NMDOH’s School-Based Health Center Program. “In many cases, they are in communities with very few other healthcare options.”
Centers statewide see students from kindergarten through 12th grade regardless of their ability to pay. They have been operating in New Mexico for over 25 years.
Services include primary health care, preventive health care, treatment of minor, urgent and chronic conditions, mental health care, and referrals for additional treatment from inpatient care to basic oral health and vision care services.
For more information, visit the New Mexico Alliance for School-Based Health Care website.
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Centros de salud en centros educativos que marcan la diferencia en todo el estado