Bringing Health and Hope to Rural Schoolchildren
Thanks to a new school-based clinic in Teller County, brothers Wesley and Jordan have access to the health care they need.
As a single, adoptive father of two boys with complicated physical and mental health needs, Jerry Warrick made countless trips down curvy mountain roads from Cripple Creek to medical appointments in Colorado Springs.
Wesley, 11, suffers from mental retardation and severe ADHD. Jordan, 7, has similar afflictions along with cerebral palsy; he struggles with his speech and most people can’t understand him. But with a new school-based health clinic opening in the Cripple Creek-Victor School District, Warrick hopes the familiar setting will reduce his boys’ anxiety and keep them on track at school.
Through The Trust’s Colorado School Health Improvement effort, the clinic offers a full spectrum of care, including medical, dental and mental health care services for children in schools, as well as their siblings from infants to age 21. It’s anticipated that simple sign-up procedures and streamlined care will improve access for some 800 patients, and reduce the stigma for children who need help, whether they suffer from asthma, eating disorders, autism or tooth decay.
“We’re really working toward a holistic approach to the well-being of students,” said Martha Hubbard, a public health nurse for Teller County. “We know that healthy kids are better students.”
For Warrick, the bottom line is that he believes this clinic will improve his boys’ quality of life by giving them “as normal a life as possible.”
