Healthcare Advocates Celebrate a New School-Based Health Center

PORT TOWNSEND, WA — In a rare moment of happy news about healthcare, Blue Heron Middle School celebrated the opening of its School-Based Health Center — the fourth such center in east Jefferson County — this past week. 

Building the health center, where Jefferson County Public Health providers serve some 400 students at Blue Heron and in the OCEAN K-12 alternative learning school, was neither quick nor easy. Before the ribbon-cutting in the middle school’s hallway last Wednesday, Oct. 28, a cadre of state and local officials spoke about the services students will receive, why the center is tucked away from the busier areas and how much it all cost. 

They also saluted the alumna who started a campaign to add a health center at the middle school. Ave Avelino, who graduated from high school here in 2020, led the effort to survey students about what they wanted in a health center. 

“There were a lot of brave students,” Avelino said: people who spoke up about their needs and their hopes. 

Avelino summed up what they see as the chief benefits of a campus health center: having access to health care at the start of puberty, access to education about safety and the opportunity to advocate for oneself. 

In addition to care for injuries and illness, sports physicals and immunizations, students of any age can receive reproductive healthcare, including birth control without parental consent. State law guarantees this. 

Students 13 and older can receive, without parental consent, mental health treatment and treatment for alcohol or other drug use.  

Susan Bone O’Brien, a nurse practitioner in her 30th year with Jefferson County Public Health, has been involved with each of the county’s Student-Based Health Centers in Chimacum, Quilcene and Port Townsend High School. 

When providing reproductive health care and contraception, health center workers sometimes hear from surprised parents, O’Brien said.  

“We’re not promoting sex,” she said; what healthcare providers are promoting is education and access. 

“We want to make sure kids are being safe with their choices.” 

Port Townsend School District Superintendent Linda Rosenbury noted that Blue Heron’s health center is in an intentionally discreet location to give students privacy. The center’s clinic room, laboratory and counseling room are in an out-of-the-way corner of the campus. Students can opt for the external door if they prefer not to run into anybody before or after a visit.  

Dr. Melinda Bower, a provider at the Blue Heron health center, said students are coping with transportation issues and other barriers. She wants to make it easy to receive good care, regardless of the young person’s situation. 

“I saw a kid yesterday who is in the foster system,” she said; “we have homeless kids in our county … kids who are not seen. We see them, and we support them.” 

About half of these students are experiencing poverty, Rosenbury added. Many live outside the city limits. 

A mix of funding partners made this new center happen: The state provided $356,000 and another $189,636 came from a capital levy approved by local voters for a total cost of $545,636, according to Port Townsend School District spokesperson Natalie Range. The center also received support from Jefferson Healthcare and the Friends of Public Health Jefferson County. 

State Rep. Steve Tharinger of Port Townsend, who was in attendance, was hailed for writing the proviso for the first round of funding from the state Legislature. 

After cutting the red ribbon, Avelino beamed. Graduating from high school in 2020 made them acutely aware of public health issues, they said. This student health center is a result of years of advocacy since then — so it feels great, Avelino said, to see it materialize.