Celebration marks opening of Round Lake High School student health and wellness center
Local leaders gathered Thursday to celebrate the opening of Lake County's first student health and wellness center at Round Lake High School, which offers services including asthma help, physicals and contraception.
Round Lake High's student clinic is the 65th such operation in Illinois, officials said. The idea first arose at a Round Lake Area Unit District 116 board meeting in 2010.
Lake County Board Chairman Aaron Lawlor, District 116 Superintendent Constance Collins and Mundelein Fire Chief Tim Sashko, who also serves as the Lake County Board of Health president, were among those present for Thursday's ribbon-cutting ceremony and guided tours.
Round Lake High's clinic involves a partnership between the Lake County Health Department/Community Health Center, District 116, Healthcare Foundation of Northern Lake County, Nicasa Behavioral Health Services, Advocate Condell Medical Center, Mano a Mano Family Resource Center, Rosalind Franklin University Health System and Vista Health System.
All students, regardless of their ability to pay, are eligible for services. A parent or guardian must sign a consent form for a pupil to be seen at the first such center in Lake County. It is staffed by a nurse practitioner, licensed clinical social worker, certified substance abuse counselor, medical assistant and part-time psychiatrist for consultation and medication management.
Services include asthma help, physicals, contraception, minor injury diagnosis, physicals, abstinence counseling and cancer screening. The clinic, which opened last week, operates 7:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday.
Covering 1,180 square feet, it was built onto Round Lake High's east side. Construction was funded through a $500,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
Officials said the clinic's goal is to improve the physical and emotional health of students attending the high school and to teach them lifelong, positive health behaviors by providing quality, comprehensive primary health care.