Dundalk Gets a School-Based Wellness Center 

Baltimore County, Md. (September 18, 2009) — Today, Baltimore County Executive Jim Smith, officials from the Baltimore County Department of Health, Baltimore County Public Schools, and the Maryland Community Health Resources Commission held a grand opening for the Dundalk school-based wellness center. There are 15 school-based wellness centers in Baltimore County that serve 20 schools. The Dundalk Wellness Center, located at Dundalk Elementary School, 2717 Playfield Street, is the first in the County to serve students from three schools (Dundalk Elementary, Middle, and High) in one location. 

Good Health

"Good health is as important to our children's success as is a good education," said Baltimore County Executive Jim Smith. "This wellness center ensures that students in the Dundalk area will have access to the medical care they need and deserve."

A grant awarded to the Department of Health from the Maryland Community Health Resources Commission funded the renovations to create the Dundalk School-Based Wellness Center and paid for the center's initial supplies. 

Partnership

"This new center is one more example of the valuable partnership between the Department of Health and the Board of Education," said Dr. Gregory Wm. Branch - Health Officer and Director. "Our willingness and ability to pool resources is what will make it possible to have healthy people living, working, and playing in Baltimore County."

School-based wellness centers in Baltimore County are a joint endeavor of the Division of Pediatric Community-Based Services in the Baltimore County Department of Health and the Office of School Health Services in Baltimore County Public Schools. A clinician from the Department of Health and a nursing assistant from the Board of Education will staff the Center.

Services 

Baltimore County School-Based Wellness Centers offer well child exams, immunizations, sports physicals, acute illness management, and chronic illness management in collaboration with the child's primary health care provider. Any student attending Dundalk Elementary, Middle, or High school is eligible for services with permission from a parent. 

The Dundalk Wellness Center staff is setting their sites to enroll 600 students-approximately 25 percent of the three schools' combined population over the course of a year. The Center will be open two days a week. Students who have received their parents consent to utilize the Center, will access services, as their school nurse deems appropriate. 

Preventive Care

"We want all of our students in school every day ready to learn," said Dr. Joe A. Hairston, Superintendent of Baltimore County Public Schools. "These centers provide important preventive services and care for acute and chronic health issues that might otherwise keep children at home. Our partnership with the Department of Health enables us to better serve the whole child."

More Information

For more information on school-based wellness centers or children's health services in Baltimore County, call 410-887-BCHD (2243).