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Bethel Middle School to open first free health clinic for students

The school's clinic will be staffed with with a dentist, nurse practitioner, and behavior health professionals.

SPANAWAY, Wash. — School's out, summer is in full swing, and there are no students in sight at Bethel Middle School. 

But school administrators aren't taking the summer off. Superintendent Tom Seigel is on a mission to bring healthcare to all 20,000 students in his district.  

"I'm looking forward to a real success story — a lot of kids being healthier and having a better life as a result," Seigel said. "There is no hospital in this school district, and it creates a real problem for our kids to get access to medical care."

Combined with limited public transportation, it's common for students to miss an entire school day over a routine doctor's visit. 

But that will change this coming school year. 

"It's one of the most resourceful uses of space that I've worked on in a project in a long time," said Debbie Jacobson of Community Health Care. 

The non-profit group establishes public health care clinics. But this is the first clinic inside a school for Community Health Care

Soon, a vacant classroom inside Bethel Middle School will transform to meet the healthcare needs of all students.

The campus will be staffed with with a dentist, nurse practitioner, and behavior health professionals. 

"It is ambitious, but it's the perfect combination of resources and people with the right intention coming together," Jacobson said. 

The clinic will be free to all students in the district. Taxpayers aren't footing the bill, either. It's funded through a grant from Kaiser Permanente to the non-profit group for this purpose. 

"There are services out there, but to try to get kids to them is a real trick – so we're trying to eliminate all the hassle so that kids get the services they need so they are healthier and preform better in school," Superintendent Seigel said. 

Half of the students in the district qualify for free and reduced lunch and many families are uninsured. 

The clinic will open in a limited capacity in August, with full services anticipated by next March. 

Community Health Care will host its first-ever public health fair on August 10 at Bethel Middle School. It's open to any student in the Bethel School District.

Editor's note: the video track inaccurately names Debbie Jacobson's last name as Jackson. We apologize for the error. 

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