St. Francis Medical Center
Monroe, La.

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The St. Francis Medical Center's School-Based Health Center (SBHC) located at Carroll Junior High School was created to bring health care to adolescents who might otherwise not have access to appropriate, timely care.

The SBHC opened in October 2007 and has grown significantly since its debut. Due to lack of access to adequate health services and health-related education, the population served tends to not place emphasis on pursuing regular, timely care. The SBHC provides health services and education where the majority of the students are from a medically underserved area with a Community Needs Index of five (indicating the highest, most immediate needs in all socioeconomic indicators).

There are many gaps and barriers in the health, mental and social services available to these students. In fact, 44 percent of children under age 18 in the organization's service area live in poverty (compared to 26.6 percent of children in Louisiana and 16.6 percent of children in the United States.) Since opening in October 2007, 1,020 students have enrolled, and the site is available to any of the 8,273 students enrolled in the Monroe City School District once parental consent has been obtained. When the SBHC opened in 2007, 8.6 percent of the site's participants were uninsured, but through outreach, enrollment and retention efforts, the site now has only 5.3 percent of its participants uninsured, which is just under the Louisiana state average of 5.4% percent.

Emergency room trend data shows that in fiscal year 2007, there were 2,356 visits from the 71202 zip code for ages 12-18 years. In 2008, a 49.5 percent decrease to 1,190, and in 2009, an additional 9.2 percent decrease to 1,080 was experienced, due in part to the availability of health services at the SBHC. Additionally, since October, 2007, the SBHC's counselor has conducted 2,280 behavioral health visits, which have been reported by students and teachers to help reduce violence in the school and increase the students' coping skills and anger management.

The SBHC was also recognized as a best practice in community benefits programs by the American Hospital Association in its 2009 Community Connections publication for demonstrating a strong commitment to ensuring that everyone gets the care they need regardless of their ability to pay.