Student-Based Health & Resource Center

Primarily, these are medical clinics that offer children and youth health care either in a school or on school property. They help children and youth get the care they need when they need it. Our center will focus on supporting students in three primary areas: Behavioral health; medical; clothing and supplies for students living the homeless lifestyle.

• Students spend less time away from school. It removes barriers from going to school 
• They are convenient 
• It’s easy to drop by and make an appointment
• Parents spend less time away from work
• Care is youth centered
• Services are affordable

• Well-child exams
• Sick visits
• Minor injury treatment
• Vision and dental and other health screenings
• Alcohol and drug counseling 
• Mental health counseling
• Sports exams
• Immunizations for entering school

Currently, JSD is seeking partners to staff the center. We are currently in conversation with Samaritan Health, Capital Dental, Marion County Legal Aid, and with Trillium Family Services. We are also working with our city and our local faith community on supporting our center as well.

No. School-based Health and Resource Centers are popping up across Oregon and the country. One of the newest centers was created in the Newberg School District this school year!

Mountain West Investment Corporation, located in Salem does a lot of philanthropic work in the Salem area especially with schools and nonprofits.  MWIC built Willamette Career Academy and C-TECH High School in Salem. MWIC donates money every year to different organizations, and their mission and passion are helping kids and seniors. MWIC has committed over $100,000 to this project. Other individuals and foundations are contributing. The Joe Weston Family Foundation has committed $75,000. The Epping Family Foundation has committed to $75,000. We are currently in talks with PacificSource, a Coordinated Care Organization, Marion County Commissioners, and with the Ford Family Foundation to secure the necessary funds for the project. All of these entities are expressing strong interest in supporting this project for Jefferson! We feel that we can raise the remaining funds from these groups, but MWIC has said that if we don’t raise the funds, they will cover the balance. The school district will not be in a position of having to pay construction costs.

Mountain West Enterprises came and completed a formal estimate. Construction is estimated to cost $350-400,000. Furniture is budgeted at $70,000. To date, we have raised $250,000 and we are actively in talks with the groups mentioned in the above paragraph and they are all expressing interest in helping.

After meeting with Superintendent Capener, Mr. Tokarsky, President of MWIC, agreed to help out Jefferson in some way, and asked JSD to provide him with some possibilities for a donation. MWIC was provided a list of ideas including the track and field, the stadium, the high school shop rooms, and a school-based health and resource center. MWIC expressed interest in the idea of a SBHRC because it closely aligns with their mission to help students. MWIC believes in building communities and supporting people, and JSD agreed that funding this renovation will bring valuable and necessary support to this community for our students.

See above paragraph

Jefferson School District has full and complete ownership of the building.

No.

No. The school district owns the property and directs how it is used.

MWIC is a philanthropic organization and they freely give away money, with no ‘strings attached’ every year to different causes. MWIC supports school districts and although MWIC focuses typically on Salem-Keizer, it saw how a center like this will be impactful for the Jefferson community.

Mountain West Enterprises is retrofitting the existing ‘old band room’ left over from the former middle school. It is a building connected to the District Office Complex, adjacent to the old gym.

It will have two exam rooms, and a conference room. It will have a laundry facility and space to provide clothing and toiletries to Jefferson students experiencing homelessness.

No.

No.

The Jefferson School District controls the center and has final say over who uses the center and for what purpose.

We are just in the concept phase at this point. The idea is to bring free legal advice to seniors once a month. That said, we are beginning by focusing on our students and the needs they have. We will be looking for ways we can expand service to include seniors once the center is up and running.

We do. We have a nurse 4 days a week. Next year we will have one 5 days a week.

There are 81 School Based Health Centers around Oregon that help their school communities. 39 of them are in rural counties. These communities are not seeing this fear becoming a reality. In actuality, the vast majority of visits will involve minors and include their parents. We will require older students to have parent permission for a medical visit.

The donor has his own contracting business. Mountain West Enterprises built the Willamette Career Academy and C-TECH High School in Salem. Nothing states that this work has to go to bid if it is done with donations from a company that does this work. Since we are not using public funds, we don’t have an obligation to seek the lowest bid.

First, we gathered considerable public input in our Needs Assessment for our Integrated Plan. The input, plus our meetings with high school students, helped us realize that there is a great need for behavioral/mental health support. This will be a strong primary focus of this center. 

Additionally, this is school district property being renovated by private donations, not public funds. The school district has the ability to build or renovate on its property without a public hearing or input. For example, we built an FFA barn a few years ago with grant funds, and a shed to house district equipment. We didn’t require public hearings or input for those projects. This is the same situation. We are taking an existing room and renovating it so it has exam rooms and a laundry facility and a place to keep clothing and school supplies for our homeless students.

This space is similar to the 81 other centers already serving schools in Oregon. Everything is being donated - gifted to the district.

Again, there are currently 81 school-based health centers in Oregon serving 52 high schools, 6 middle schools, 10 elementary schools. This center is no different. There is no liability to the district.These are common and last year they helped over 60,000 students.

This is not a laboratory. It’s a health and resource center. All information shared with providers is confidential and the district will not have access to confidential information.

There is a lot of support for school-based health centers in the medical community. We are working to solidify our partnerships. Currently, we have a letter of support from Samaritan Health. We have a commitment from Capital Dental. Because our community couldn’t keep a medical office open is precisely why we feel the need to try to offer this to our students.

Yes, this is for our students only.

We are not renting out the space. We will be arranging ongoing services. It’s too early to know how often services will be provided for specific services, but it will not be a once a year pop up thing. All of these service providers will provide specialized equipment and staffing.  For example, Capital Dental will equip the room, provide a dentist, dental assistant, and receptionist on the days that they provide services.

1. Schools will not have access to confidential information shared with providers. We already have access to student records at the schools, but anything at the center will be separate and confidential.

2. Parents will be involved in their minor child’s care. 100%

3. HIPPA violations? The school district does not engage in violating HIPPA rights.

4. We are not meddling in student lives. We are providing services like sports physicals, or fixing a cavity, our counseling with a therapist. We see a need to help our students and this will help some of our most vulnerable.

JSD is not meddling in student lives. We are providing services like sports physicals, or fixing a cavity, our counseling with a therapist. We see a need to help our students and this will help some of our most vulnerable.

I am 100% focused on kids and providing support for them. That is my only agenda. We want to remove barriers to learning when we can. We are being given a gift - an opportunity - to serve our students most in need. I’m not sure what ‘overreaching’ means, but if it means that I am wanting to bring support and services to our students in the form of dental care, mental health support, clothing and school supplies, and simple medical care, then yes, I overreach. Will I have access to medical and behavioral health records? Absolutely not.

We are merely in the early stages of this center. Parents have all the rights over their minor child. No one is performing a service without the minor child’s parent’s knowledge and consent.

Currently the plan is to begin construction and at the same time, solidify partnerships. Our staff will be working on a sustainability plan over the next several months. We have had great conversations with PacificSource on sustainability and they have offered to help us with our sustainability planning. We can both build and plan at the same time. 

No, the Board is not accepting donations from the donors.

Mountain West gives away millions of dollars each year. They have done these types of projects on multiple occasions - the Boys and Girls Club in Salem, CTECH high school, Willamette Career Academy. They both donated and built those places. This is a small project for them in consideration of what they normally do.

Again, this is a gift of coming into an old room and retrofitting it. All the monies are donated and the work is being donated.

Great question. Our custodial staff already takes care of that space. Staffing will be volunteers and providers will bring their own personnel. For example, Capital Dental says that they provide their own receptionist. We will be seeking volunteers to help run the homeless supplies center.

We have budgeted $470,000 which will pay for construction costs and furniture. We are well on our way to raising those funds and Mountain West will ensure that the district does not have to pay for anything related to start up costs. Costs associated with maintaining will be minimal. The space is currently used by our staff and so custodial and maintenance is already part of our regular operations.