School-based clinics in Washington State are beneficial to families and students in many ways. Students have access to free medical and mental health care, parents don’t have to take time off from work to take their child to appointments, and kids have people they can trust at their school. The clinics pay an important role in the health of students and their families. They provide behavioral  healthcare, do sports physicals, screen for conditions and health issues, and administer vaccines as well as general health check-ups.

Some 2023 highlights:

• All middle school and high school students in Walla Walla now have access to free mental health and medical care at school after The Health Center’s latest expansion into Garrison Middle School.
• The Bethel School District has a new clinic where students and staff can receive medical, dental and behavioral health care all under one roof.
• HealthPoint opened their sixth school-based health center at Highline High School.This health center will serve the 1,000+ students at Highline High, but is also open to all middle and high school students in the entire Highline district.

The Washington School-Based Health Alliance provides a School-based Clinic Coordinator toolkit on their website, developed in collaboration with clinic coordination staff from across Washington State. Designed to to support Clinic Coordinators with various levels of experience and knowledge, the toolkit can be used to initiate conversation with school-based health teams, contribute to onboarding of new staff, and standardize or improve processes in daily operations.