MAYWOOD, Ill. - Loyola University Chicago Marcella Niehoff School of Nursing recently received two grants to support the School-Based Health Center (SBHC) at Proviso East High School in Maywood.
The Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) Nurse Education, Practice and Retention (HRSA Grant #D11HP14610) program presented the school with $273,064. This funding is part of a five-year grant of more than $1.3 million awarded to MNSON to educate the primary health-care workforce of the future. The Illinois Department of Human Services (IDHS) also awarded the School of Nursing $122,000 to continue to operate SBHC.
This year SBHC celebrated its 10th anniversary. “These grants will allow us to continue to fulfill Loyola’s mission to provide needed health-care services and health education for underserved populations,” said Marcella Niehoff School of Nursing Dean Vicki Keough, PhD, RN-BC, ACNP. “The School-Based Health Center provides valuable services, which help keep students healthy, so they can thrive both inside and outside of the classroom."
Loyola has provided primary health care, screenings, health education, nutrition counseling and mental health services for high school students at SBHC for more than a decade. The center also delivers school physicals, immunizations and health education to elementary school students in District 89 and provides outreach to the Maywood community.
SBHC is staffed by Loyola faculty, nurse practitioners, primary-care physicians, registered dietitians and a social worker who offer a variety of primary health care and health promotion services. SBHC also serves as a multidisciplinary clinical site for Loyola undergraduate and graduate nursing, dietetic, public health, health-care administration and medical students. The center is fully accredited by the Illinois Department of Human Services.
“We are proud of the work we have done to promote healthy living among young people and to encourage future health-care providers to understand the needs of culturally diverse communities,” said Diana Hackbarth, RN, PhD, FAAN, project director, School-Based Health Center, and professor, MNSON. “This funding will allow us to continue to help this community to live healthier lives.”