To expand healthcare access for local students and families, providers from USA Health Adolescent and Young Adult Health will begin offering a weekly health clinic at LeFlore Magnet High School beginning Aug. 26.
"We are excited about the launch of a new mobile health clinic on campus, designed to provide our students with convenient access to essential medical services," said Dr. Antonio Williams, LeFlore's principal. "This clinic will offer wellness checks, sick visits and preventive care, ensuring that our students remain healthy, focused and ready to learn. Our goal is to remove barriers to healthcare by bringing resources directly to our students. This initiative reflects our ongoing commitment to prioritizing the wellbeing of every student at John L. Leflore Magnet High School."
Research on school-based health centers shows significant health benefits to students, including lower emergency room visits and hospitalizations and improved health outcomes which can lead to improved attendance and greater academic success.
“By bringing USA Health’s adolescent providers directly to students, we can address health needs more quickly and compassionately, without requiring them to leave campus for a doctor’s appointment,” said Natalie Fox, DNP, PNP-BC, interim CEO of USA Health. “This improves access, keeps students in class, and connects them to our academic health system which can mean allowing for earlier detection and treatment of health issues.”
USA Health providers will see patients for well and sick visits in a mobile health clinic on Tuesday mornings during the school year at LeFlore. Appointments will be made through the school nurse.
The University of South Alabama, including USA Health, has a history of providing healthcare to students at LeFlore in Mobile’s Toulminville Community. In 2016, the school system signed an agreement with USA Health’s Family Medicine division to create a Student Health Services Center on the campus.
Through that agreement, USA Health providers, including Pamela Pickens-Taylor, DNP, CRNP, a family nurse practitioner, began performing sports physicals at LeFlore. Pickens-Taylor was recently honored with a Women's History Month Award from the city of Mobile for her outstanding contributions and the significant impact she is making in healthcare. In addition to her clinical role, she also serves as a mentor to high school students, encouraging them to pursue careers in healthcare.
“Pamela’s passion for adolescent health and education makes her an ideal addition to our team at LeFlore,” said Benjamin Estrada, M.D., interim chair of pediatrics, professor of pediatrics, and assistant dean for medical education at the Frederick P. Whiddon College of Medicine at USA. “Her compassion for others, combined with her eagerness to teach while caring for students, is a testimony to her mission of making a lasting and meaningful impact.”