Facts About Our Healthcare Services
School Based Health Centers
SBHCs increase the number of safety net providers accessible to high-risk children (especially for behavioral health services).
SBHC Enrollment
Parents must sign a permission form to enroll and receive services in the School Based Health Center. Services are delivered without respect for ability to pay. SBHCs may bill insurance for services covered by the designated health plans.
IHS Service Delivery Overview
Behavioral/Mental Health
Behavioral/Mental Health
Clinical Social Workers support students by providing Individual, Group, and Family Therapy Sessions to increase students’ success in school.
- Prevalent issues included anxiety, academic avoidance, family separations, and conflict management.
- These issues often present in student behavior as challenges with self-regulation/self-control, anxiety, depression, and anger/frustration.
Screening Tools & Program Interventions
- Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9) screens for depression
- Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD-7) screens for anxiety
- Columbia Suicide Severity Rating Scalet (C-SSRS) screens suicide risk
- Goals were tracked through treatment plans
- Students utilized 30–45-minute individual sessions scheduled around their classes.
School Based Health Center Services Impact
- Increased emotional awareness and expressive language to assist in processing emotions and behaviors in the moment,
- Decreased disruptive classroom behaviors.
- Improved focus and classroom participation
- Many students displayed increased self-regulation skills and improved bonds with peers, staff, and family members.
- Family sessions assisted in increasing communication amongst students and families.
- There was a significant increase in group sessions
- Blooming Minds therapeutic gardening group proved impactful for all participants
Medical Services
- The beginning and mid-school year bring a large number of scholars requiring physicals.
- The majority of scholars who come in to see the APRN are screened for:
- Behavioral health
- Medical screenings for blood and urine work.
Screening Tools & Program Interventions
The APRN partners with the SBHC Social Worker to assess the holistic needs of students and uses,
- Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9) to screen for depression
- Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD-7) to screen anxiety
- Columbia Suicide Severity Rating Scalet (C-SSRS) to screen for suicide risk
- Other screening tools and clinical observations are also used to assess medical and nutritional needs.
School Based Health Center Services Impact
- APRN implemented Health Education Projects related to:
- School sports
- Yearly wellness exams
- Nutrition and healthy eating
- Healthy relationships
- Conducted needs assessments,
- Conducted behavioral screenings
- Performed medical screenings for blood and urine work
- Many of these require follow-up visits and more in-depth education.
- Assisted with school immunization compliance:
- Conducted flu clinics for students and school staff
- Administered flu shots as needed
- Engaged families:
- Participated in school multicultural events
- Connected with over 100 families at School Project Night
- Engaged scholars in food journals and art projects to highlight healthy nutrition choices
- SBHC APRN and Social Worker coordinated care for students experiencing homelessness
Access to on-site dental services and results in timely response to dental needs and referrals.
Dental Services
Doctor of Medicine Dentistry, DMD, Registered Dental Hygienist, RDH, and Certified Dental Assistant complete our comprehensive services of wellness and prevention.
- Lack of transportation
- Connected students to Husky Dental Referral Program that offers ride options.
- The trend of student absences often resulted in incomplete dental treatments.
Screening Tools & Program Interventions
The APRN partners with the SBHC Social Worker to assess the holistic needs of students and uses,
- Goodwin University Magnet School entire scholar population were offered oral assessments.
- After each student sees the Dental Hygienist for their cleaning, fluoride treatment, oral risk assessment, and x-rays, they see the dentist for the full exam and review of X-rays.
School Based Health Center Services Impact
SBHC Dental Department services were accessible to all students enrolled at Goodwin Magnet Schools.
- IHS Dental Coordinator referred students to CT Husky Dental Referral Program to assist with scheduling & transportation to local endodontists, orthodontist, and oral surgeons.
- 52 students referred to Oral Surgery for their wisdom teeth issues
- 42 students were referred to Ortho for evaluation for braces.
- 5 students able to receive braces due to referrals by SBHC Dentist
- Dental Hygienist promoted healthy teeth and SBHC enrollment
- 13 new dental enrollments as a result of oral screenings
- 7% increase in enrollment to entire Dental from all 3 schools
- Observed improved attendance and student focus as a result of dental treatments
More Information
IHS also provides School Nursing services to the Goodwin University Magnet School System to meet the mandates of the Connecticut State Department of Education.
Jesse has worked in the Healthcare industry since 2003, primarily in the medical device space. He has direct experience in device management across a wide portfolio of technologies including medical imaging, general biomedical, and surgical instruments. Hands on experience leading teams focused on maintenance, device tracking, lifecycle management and capital planning for replacement. He has held national roles overseeing supply chain, logistics, contracting, pricing/marketing, customer contact center, and a wide range of back off support functions.
Christopher Sour is an Investment Analyst currently working at CVS Health. As an alumni of the CVS Financial Leadership Development Program, Chris has worked in Internal Audit, Corporate Treasury, and Investment Management. In his current role, Chris aids in the management of hedge fund, CLO, equity portfolios, and pension plan assets. Responsibilities include making new investments across the asset classes, managing risk, on-going monitoring of investments and allocating capital across the asset classes.
Stephanie Begen retired in 2021 after 44 years as an educator in the greater Hartford region. She began her career as an elementary Special Education Teacher in Hartford and wrapped up the last 22 years of her career as a middle school Special Education Teacher in Berlin. Along the way she also worked at the Capitol Region Education Council, the University of Connecticut, Division of Child and Family Studies, and at Newington Children’s Hospital as a Patient/Team Coordinator for the PEDAL program. Stephanie was a passionate educator working with families/caregivers, service providers and outside agencies to ensure that her students’ educational, emotional, and healthcare needs were met.
Yanira Nazario is a Universal Banker at M&T Bank, with over 15 years of experience in banking. She is passionate about the community she serves and dedicated her time volunteering in and around Hartford County.
Nestor Leon has over 25 years of workforce development experience. He has designed, implemented and monitored programs that provide pathways to economic self-sufficiency. He has coordinated programs in multiple states such as Connecticut, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, New York, and Virginia that resulted in improved access for low-income customers. He is currently working with the Connecticut State College and Universities (CSCU) on a 35-million-dollar statewide healthcare and social work initiative.
James Cornell is the Senior Manager of Accounting Compliance at Hartford Steam Boiler. For the last 17 years, he has provided his assurance and financial analysis experience to healthcare and insurance entities in Connecticut. He joined the IHS board in May 2023.
Dr. Andrew Feller is a Family Physician who currently works with Trinity Health of New England. For the last 20+ years, he has split his time working as a family doctor in East Hartford, taking care of hospitalized patients at St. Francis Hospital, and teaching residents and medical students at University of CT in Farmington.
Matthew Cholewa is an attorney with over 30 years of experience. Matt has spent about half his career in private practice and half in the title insurance industry and is currently employed with Old Republic National Title Insurance Company as First Vice President & Senior Underwriting Counsel for its Commercial Agency Services office based in Hartford, Connecticut. While in private practice, Matt’s practice consisted of commercial and residential real estate transactions, real property related litigation, zoning, tax appeals and other small business matters.
Jeff Walsh is a graduate of Babson College in Wellesley, MA, with a degree in Accounting. Prior to joining CRT as their CFO, Jeff worked in public accounting for 19 years, specializing in non-profit and governmental audits throughout the northeast region. Jeff has extensive experience with the Federal Single Audit and State of Connecticut Single Audit requirements, in addition to Form 990 preparation and indirect cost rate calculations.
Dr. Saunders is a staff psychologist working at the Institute of Living/Hartford Hospital and is also Board Certified in Clinical Psychology. She is the Director of the new initiative, the Center for Gender Health at Hartford Healthcare. In 2015, Dr. Saunders was named Employee of the Year for Hartford Hospital and in 2019, she was the recipient of the Ned Graffagnino Award for distinguished service in the areas of community-oriented work and collaboration with other mental health professionals. Her areas of expertise include LGBTQ mental health, child psychopathology, behavior management, parent training, and family therapy. She appears regularly in local TV news to provide psychological input on topics relevant to youth and families and currently has two weekly segments on WFSB/Ch. 3 Great Day CT, related to child mental health.
Kareen Wilson is a team leader, owner, and patient-therapist at Contemporary General Dentistry in West Hartford, CT, and Smile Studio Dentistry in Hartford, CT. Kareen also works as an adjunct professor in the leadership program at Goodwin University. She has over twenty-five years of experience in clinical dental hygiene and office management.
For over 25 years Doug Edwards has been a family services consultant who designs and facilitates fatherhood-focused programs. He provides professional development and training for family workers at state and non-profit human services agencies.
Joe Murphy is a Certified Financial Planner™ at Gateway Financial Partners. He has over 40 years of experience in Wealth Management and Investment Planning, including working with teams in the bank investment arena.