2 L.A. Schools Get Funds for Health Clinics

Two Los Angeles school district high schools have each won a $600,000 grant to finance campus health clinics that will offer a wide range of primary care services, including birth control counseling and dispensing of contraceptives.

The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, a New Jersey-based philanthropic organization that has underwritten 24 school-based clinics around the country, is expected to make a formal announcement today of the awards to San Fernando High School in the East San Fernando Valley and Los Angeles High School in central Los Angeles. A grant to finance a third clinic, at Jordan High School in Watts, was announced by the foundation in May.

District officials say the three clinics will open in September, although a full range of services may not be available until later in the school year.

“I’m so excited. This is the culmination of a dream,” said school board member Roberta Weintraub who, with colleague Jackie Goldberg, proposed the clinics two years ago. “For some kids, (these clinics) will provide the only medical care they receive.”

According to Pam Wagner, a district nurse adviser who is helping coordinate the program, each clinic will be staffed by a nurse practitioner, a physician’s assistant and two part-time doctors. A health educator and a counselor will provide support services.

The staff will treat routine health problems, such as colds and acne, as well as screen for venereal diseases, diagnose common teen-age eating disorders and perform physical examinations. The services will be offered free.

Childrens Hospital of Los Angeles will run the Los Angeles High School clinic, while the Northeast Valley Health Corp. will operate the San Fernando facility. The Jordan clinic will be operated by the Watts Health Foundation.

The clinics are intended as pilot projects. School officials are hoping that they will prove successful enough to encourage the establishment of clinics at high schools throughout the district.

The total of $1.8 million promised by the Johnson Foundation will pay for half the cost of running the clinics for six years. According to a district official, the Brush Foundation in Cleveland and the Stuart Foundation in San Francisco have offered smaller grants that will cover the rest of the expense. Each clinic will cost $200,000 a year to operate.

Any student enrolled at one of the three high schools may use the clinics but will be required to provide a signed parental consent form. According to district policy, a parent can deny permission for a specific service, such as birth control counseling or contraceptives, in a space provided on the consent slip. Under state law, a minor can obtain birth control devices or information without parental consent.

The clinics have stirred controversy, with opposition largely from conservative religious groups that have objected on the grounds that giving students access to contraceptives would encourage promiscuity. The most prominent critic has been Roman Catholic Archbishop Roger M. Mahony, who issued a pastoral letter last year urging local Catholics “who value the family” to pressure district officials into dropping the clinic proposal.

But district officials held firm, citing an array of statistics that they said indicate a great unmet need among adolescents not only for birth control services but for a wide range of general medical care.

According to district surveys of the three high schools, at least 40% of the students polled reported that they are sexually active, but of those who said they had engaged in sexual intercourse, two-thirds were not practicing birth control.

In addition, 50% or more of the students surveyed said they see a doctor less than once a year, and the main reason cited was an inability to pay for medical treatment. A significant percentage of students said that lack of transportation or a fear that their visits might not be kept confidential also deterred them from seeking health care when they needed it.

When it opens the three clinics, the district will join a growing number of public schools across the nation that have launched campus clinics. According to the Washington-based Center for Population Options, there are currently about 175 such clinics in operation or in the planning stage.