Sheridan School District's Clinic Helps Students Beyond Health Care Needs

SHERIDAN, Colo. (CBS4)- A partnership between the Sheridan School District and CU's College of Nursing is improving access to health care for students. The reach of the medical staff goes far beyond those appointments.

Daisy Sanchez is a patient and has been for years.

"My teacher actually told me about the school based clinic I came and I was seen here," she said.

Sanchez was 14 years old when she visited the CU Youth Clinic, run by the CU College of Nursing for the first time.

At the time she was a student with SOAR.

"My teachers knew I was coming over here; I was able to walk over here, just next door and my mom didn't have to worry about missing work or find the right time for me to miss school," she said.

Integrating the clinic into the Sheridan School campus provides access that Superintendent Pat Sandos says is invaluable for his community.

"We have 1,350 kids, about 85% are free and reduced in some form and then we have a homeless population that's about one out of four kids," he said.

Sandos said without the clinic, many of his students likely wouldn't have access quality health care.

"We have situations where kids want to play their families may not have the means to go get a physical and they may not want to burden their family with that," he said.

Some of the services are free. So far this year, they provided 65 physicals and nearly 100 dental exams for students. The services that aren't free are made affordable through a discount program.

"You've got counseling, psych, med management, dental and primary care, and it becomes like a home for the students and families in this community," said Anna Padgett Seigel, a behavioral health provider at the clinic.

Sanchez agrees with Seigel, the clinic provides more than a convenient checkup, it's a safe place to grow.