The pandemic has amplified this stark reality. It has also cast attention on the fact that education and health care are intrinsically connected. To minimize the long-term health and academic impacts of the pandemic on our children and to better prepare for a future public health crisis, President-elect Biden must dramatically improve and expand access to school-based health care.
School-based health centers create equity by meeting students where they spend a significant amount of their time; in school. Beyond providing critical primary care services, and often mental and behavioral care, centers reduce the practical burdens like scheduling, transportation and costs associated with private health care access that many low-income families struggle with. But only 11 percent of public schools nationwide provide access to centers, and only 40 percent have a full-time school nurse.
BY MARIO RAMIREZ AND ANDREW BUHER, OPINION CONTRIBUTORS — 12/18/20
