By Kim Hilsenbeck
A partnership between Communicare and Hays CISD will bring expanded services and potentially hours to the WELL Clinic operating at Simon Middle School.
Communicare officially took over June 1 though the partnership has been more than 18 months in the making.
Hays CISD head nurse Maci Walker and the district’s former head nurse, Ruth Roberts, who is now with Communicare Kyle, have spent the past year or so gearing up for the transition. Roberts is the liaison for the WELL Clinic and her employer.
The biggest difference is that under Communicare, the WELL Clinic can accept private insurance. Other than that, Roberts and Walker said it should be relatively seamless.
“Patients should not notice a whole lot of change,” Roberts said, “with the exception of new forms to complete.”
Walker hopes the WELL Clinic will see some change in the form of more patients, which she said is good for the district as it helps keep students healthy and in school.
Districts lose money for each unexcused absence by students.
“Communicare will allow the clinic to see additional patients,” Walker said. As a school-based health clinic, the facility could only accept MedicAid and CHiP patients, along with students who had no medical insurance. Parents with insurance could pay out of pocket on a sliding scale if needed.
Walker said United Healthcare is the only large insurance company not currently accepted because it and Communicare couldn’t reach a contract agreement.
“That might not be forever,” she said.
Under Communicare, the clinic will also offer more services, such as mental health and, later, possibly even dental services. In addition, students and their families will be part of the Communicare system, which opens up more possibilities and locations for appointments and services. Communicare operates in Kyle, San Marcos and now Wimberley.
“Students (along with their non-school age siblings and their own children) can go to the WELL Clinic or Communicare clinic in Kyle,” Roberts said.
“Families, not just students and their siblings and children can find a medical home through Communicare and the WELL Clinic.”
Originally staffed with several employees, Roberts said, between the transition taking longer than expected and employees unwilling to wait to find out what might happen to their jobs, staffing was thin.
When the clinic opens for the 2015-2016 school year, it will have five employees, all but one of whom will be employed by Communicare. The other will remain a Hays CISD employee.
Those staffing issues limited how many students could be seen at the WELL Clinic and the numbers of patients seen aren’t where the district would like them. The capacity at the new free-standing clinic at Simon Middle School is 3,000 patients a year.
“The clinic hasn’t seen as much growth in the last year,” Roberts said. “Now with the WELL Clinic partnership with Communicare, it opens up a whole additional set of patients.”
When the district first opened the clinic in 2001, Roberts said there was some talk in the community about why the school was getting into the healthcare business.
But it all boiled down to one answer. “To keep kids in school,” Roberts said.
She said it’s hard to tell whether the approach is working because they can’t truly match up the number of clinic visits with attendance data, but she and Walker believe having the clinic is good for the health of Hays CISD students who were traditionally underserved medically.
About the WELL Clinic
The original WELL Clinic opened in a nurse’s office in 2001. The main population target was students without health insurance and who were frequently absent from school.
As word of mouth took hold, more parents learned about the clinic, which primarily handled immunizations, annual well visits and sports physicals. It also handled diagnosis and treatment of medical issues and illnesses such as colds, ear infections, flu and asthma and minor injuries.
The clinic doctor also prescribes medication as needed. In addition, the WELL Clinic offers nutrition classes along with disease and injury prevention education.
Over the intervening years, visits to the WELL Clinic grew so the district expanded it into a portable building.
In 2013, a new freestanding building opened on the Simon Middle School campus. It has the capacity to see 3,000 students a year.
Address: 3839 E. FM 150
Hours: Summer – 8-4:30, Mon-Thur; School year – Mon 9:30 a.m.-6 p.m., Tues-Fri, 8:30 a.m.- 4 p.m. Goal is to expand hours from 8 a.m.-7 p.m. Monday through Friday.