Most children in the Balsz school district lack a medical home and therefore receive only limited medical care at local emergency rooms or from the district’s school nurses who are stretched far beyond their capacity. The Balsz Educare Arizona Center for Health (BEACH) will provide critically needed medical, dental and behavioral health care to this medically underserved community. While the plan is to begin by providing health care to Educare children and their families, we will quickly expand capacity to serve the students and families of the neighboring Brunson-Lee Elementary School and eventually the entire school district of 3,000 children. It will also serve as clinical practicum site for student nurses, student nurse practitioners, dental students, dental hygienist students, and both allopathic and naturopathic medical students.
The BEACH will be managed by Scottsdale Healthcare, which has a long track record of operating school-based and other satellite clinics. Dr. Martin Catero is the medical director for Scottsdale Healthcare’s Neighborhood Outreach Action for Health program which includes all of SHC’s school-based health centers, and will be the lead physician for the Educare project. The clinic staffing model includes a full-time family nurse practitioner, front office assistant, medical assistant, dental assistant, affiliated dental hygienist, and part-time Registered Nurse and dentist. A Medical Director will also provide clinical oversight. Once it is fully operational, Scottsdale Healthcare estimates that the BEACH will be able to see 26 patients a day, which comes to 6,760 patient visits a year.
