A standalone clinic that served the medical and mental-health needs of low-income families in the Adams 14 School District was shut down this month, a victim of the budget ax.
The clinic, which operated in a modular building in the parking lot at Kearney Middle School in Commerce City, served its last patient Aug. 5.
In the past year, the Kearney clinic hosted 1,529 health care visits, about a third of which were Kearney students, said Norma Portnoy, executive director of Community Health Services.
She said the free-standing Kearney clinic was part of a $1 million effort by Community Health Services to provide both mental-health counseling and medical care at the school. The money — from both private and public sources — also helped start a wellness center at the new Adams City High School and improve a clinic at Adams City Middle School.
But after three years, the funding dried up, and the clinic was shuttered. The hope was that the clinic could be self-sustaining, but several factors — including serving a mostly low-income population — made that goal difficult to reach.
“We flourished for a time,” Portnoy said. “The three-year grant helped us keep our heads above water, but the economics of it all finally hit us.”
Community Health Services also has laid off seven people, two of whom were full-time employees working year-round.
Community Health Services will keep open five clinics in Commerce City with no reduction in service. The clinic serving Kearney students has moved into the school. Adult clients can receive treatment at Community Health Services’ main office at 4675 E. 69th Ave.
The partnership between Community Health Services and the Adams 14 School District earned the district a 2011 Magna Award.
The awards are granted by the American School Board Journal, the National School Boards Association and Sodexo School Services, for programs that advance learning and encourage community involvement.
The clinics are a prime example of a community partnership that is helping kids stay healthy and in school, Magna officials said.
The number of students using the clinics is growing, said the district. In the 2010-11 school year, 64 percent of the Adams City High School population was enrolled in its school-based health center, compared with 52 percent the year before.
Portnoy said families and children will not suffer because of the cutbacks.
“We will have the same number of clinics,” she said. “We just have to restructure it a little bit.”
Monte Whaley: 720-929-0907 or mwhaley@denverpost.com
