Reported on September 10, 2009

With more than 6,000 visits last year and a 97 percent registration rate, officials at a school-based clinic in Public School 11 believe they will serve even more students this year.

Linda Mikolay, a nurse practitioner and supervisor of school-based clinics sponsored by The Ryan Center, said she believes the numbers will increase because school enrollment is up and parents are looking for affordable health care.

Adam, 7, receives treatment regularly form the Ryan Center's clinic in PS 11 for his allergies and asthma. Photo: Sonia Dasgupta

“We see every student whether or not they have insurance,” Mikolay said. “Sometimes if they have it, we’ll bill Medicaid.”

The Ryan Center is a community-based clinic that runs several school-based clinics in addition to its community health centers. It serves students from both PS 11 and The Clinton School for Writers and Artists – schools that share a building on West 21st Street in Chelsea.

Although the clinic only serves students at the school, medical treatments performed at the facility are free.

“We do everything from Band-Aids to doing physicals,” Mikolay said.

That includes school immunizations, administering flu vaccines, routine follow-ups for asthma and diabetes, throat cultures and rapid strep tests, which diagnose strep throat, all for free.

The center has a nurse practitioner, Christine Dahler, who can write prescriptions for children as well.

There are 122 school-based clinics in the five boroughs, according to the city Department of Education. Eighty of the clinics also serve students for mental health issues, according to the city’s Department of Health and Mental Hygiene Web site.

Those clinics are sponsored by local hospitals or other community-based clinics and receive some funding from the state, Mikolay said.

She said the number of visits have increased each year.

Starting in fall 2007, the clinic saw 5,983 students from both schools that year.
“We’re seeing kids without their parents,” she said. “Parents fill out a consent form allowing us to treat their children during the school day without their presence. If a child doesn’t have consent, we can’t treat them.”

Katherine Neville, a single mother from Morningside Heights, specifically chose PS 11 for her son, Adam, because of the school’s clinic.

The second-grader has asthma and allergies to dairy products, eggs, wheat and corn.
“He’ll go into anabolic shock if he ingests it or if someone else touches him after touching those foods,” Neville said. “He is also allergic to pets.”

Although Adam’s asthma has led him to visit the clinic often, she said, she is indebted to the nurses at the clinic after they saved his life last March.

Neville said after one of her son’s episodes, Dahler told her it was an abnormal reaction and to go to the emergency room.

She said doctors discovered her son had a collapsed lung.

“I can feel like my son is taken care of,” she said, “and in my case he is alive because of them.”

However, for families who don’t attend a school with a clinic there is another option.

The city health department has walk-in clinics in all five boroughs for residents to receive required vaccinations for their school-age children at no cost.

Children or adults can receive immunizations for Hepatitis B, diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis, measles, mumps and rubella.

Mikolay said this year, one more reason may make numbers increase citywide.

Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg announced on Sept. 1 the city would provide free flu mist and flu shots to all elementary school children.

“Parents are worried about how they can prevent their children from getting swine flu along with the regular flu this year,” she said.

Last year, she said the clinic served about 10 percent of the schools’ populations for influenza.

Where you can get more information:

There are four clinics – Fort Greene Health Center in Brooklyn, Chelsea Health Center in Manhattan, Corona Health Center in Queens and Tremont Health Center in the Bronx.

Although all clinics are open from 8:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m., the days they are open for walk-in appointments vary.