Blazing the Trail for School-Based Health

Kathy Sather, President & CEO

Carol Burba, CAHC Health Educator and Program Supervisor

Family Health Care employees awarded for pioneering school-based health centers

BALDWIN– Starting healthy habits at a young age can help reduce future health issues as children move into adulthood. Family Health Care’s (FHC) Child and Adolescent Health Centers play an important role in helping our area youth start life out on the right foot. On November 8, Kathy Sather, President & CEO, and Carol Burba, CAHC Health Educator and Program Supervisor, were presented the Trailblazer Award from The Child and Adolescent Health Center Program, a division of the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services, along with the School-Community Health Alliance of Michigan.

The award is given to leaders that help lay the foundation for school-based health centers. Over the last three decades, school-based health centers have expanded from one center in 1981 to now over 120 centers throughout Michigan. They have diversified to include primary care, dental care and behavioral health services to a variety of ages.

“Working with the professionals that devote their time and talents for our children is the most inspiring and motivating aspect of the school-based concept,” said Sather. “Our children are our greatest commodity; they should never be left out of receiving quality, integrated and comprehensive health care.”

School-Based Health Centers, like the ones FHC has in Baldwin, Grant and White Cloud schools, ensures all school-aged children have access to professionals who can help make a difference in each child’s life, not only as a medical professional but as a role model and mentor. FHC’s Child & Adolescent Health Centers see over 1,500 patients per year providing primary medical care, dental, behavioral health, vision and Medicaid enrollment.

“Seeing the youth grow into healthy adults and knowing how to navigate the health care system is one of the things that motivates me about school-based health care,” says Burba. “It’s not only what I give, but also what I receive in return; the joy and satisfaction of making a positive difference in a life, one child at a time.”

Each of FHC’s Child & Adolescent Health Centers is open year-round and will see any child age 5-21, regardless of their insurance or ability to pay. To learn more or contact a location near you, visit familyhealthcare.org/service/CAHC.