District 116 moves to planning phase for student health center

Round Lake Area Unit District 116 officials have approved starting the planning process for a school-based health center that initially would target older students.

Members of a community advisory committee convened by Nicasa — a Lake County substance abuse prevention and treatment organization — agreed after a four-month feasibility study that there is a need for a medical clinic for District 116 pupils. The planning for the center is considered the second phase.

District 116 board President Nanci Radford said officials are working toward opening the clinic at Round Lake High School for the 2012-13 academic year. Board members last Thursday voted in favor of a resolution that authorizes the health center planning, most likely starting by September with a completion goal of April 2012.

“We’re doing it the right way,” Radford said Monday, “one step at a time.”

Radford said physicals and nutrition information would be part of the Round Lake High clinic. She said plans are to start on a small scale with the high school students before offering clinic services to other schools in District 116.

If the student-focused health center is created, District 116 officials have said, it would be the first of its kind in Lake County.

Maine East High School in Park Ridge and Evanston Township High School are among those with student health centers. Maine East’s and Evanston Township’s clinics have ties to hospitals near the schools and free services for the pupils.

Radford said a clinic operator has yet to be identified. She said District 116 officials plan to discuss the proposed clinic with the Lake County Health Department.

Chicago-based Millennia Consulting has been hired to help District 116 get the clinic started. Millennia, known for its work on communication strategies, was tabbed to provide services to Maine Township High School District 207 before it launched the health center on its east campus in 2003.