Nationwide, nearly 2,600 health centers operated out of schools in 2017, the most recent year with available data — more than twice the number that existed two decades earlier. Some 6.3 million students in more than 10,000 schools had access to the centers, according to the School-Based Health Alliance.
School-based health centers offer free services — from flu shots and physicals to contraceptive care and talk therapy — that students can access without need of insurance or a trip to the doctor’s office. The vast majority offer behavioral health care, which is increasingly in demand as students’ mental health challenges mount.
“The mental health needs: It’s across districts, it’s across states, it’s across the country,” said Cheri Woodall, health and wellness supervisor in the Colonial School District, where Johnson’s daughter attends school.
Now, as many schools buckle under the weight of those needs and some community providers cannot meet demand, on-campus health clinics are attracting new attention.
