New York leads in SBHCs

On Board Online • May 13, 2013

Cathy Woodruff
Senior Writer

New York leads the nation in the number of school-based health centers (SBHCs) and the amount state funding provided, according to a 2011 survey by the National Assembly on School-Based Health Care.

Eighteen states have state-funded SBHCs, according to the survey. Leaders in 2011 were New York, which spent $21.76 million on 223 centers, Michigan, which spent $16.5 million on 72 centers, and Connecticut, which spent at least $10.7 million on 81 centers.

New York ranked near the middle of the group on another measure, however, with just over 4 percent of all its public schools receiving state-directed money for SBHCs.

New York has budgeted $17.7 million to support SBHCs in this fiscal year, said Health Department spokesman Jeffrey Hammond. That reflects a 5.575 percent cut, he said, and the sources include $9.8 million in state aid to localities and funding streams created by the federal Health Care Reform Act.

Financing the setup of one SBHC is like stitching together a patchwork quilt, according to Jane Hamilton, manager of an SBHC program run by Bassett Healthcare Network. It takes a lot of financial pieces, she said, and the particular pattern in each community will be unique.

Grants from foundations, local service clubs, businesses and myriad other donors often provide the main financial foundation for establishing a center, which can cost hundreds of thousands of dollars, said Hamilton.

Private donations and grants don’t typically help with salaries and other operating costs, Hamilton said, but they can carry a large part of the financial burden for a district establishing a new center.

“If a district gets $10,000 from the Kiwanis, that’s going to buy a couple of exam tables,” she said.