A partnership between Houston County Schools and the county health department is bringing primary health care closer to where children, and their adults, spend time. 

Starting Aug. 27, public health nurses will manage telehealth visits out of the Lindsey Student Support Center in Warner Robins. 

A nurse at the center will video cast with a nurse practitioner at the health department, about 10 miles away. 

“Through the telehealth equipment, she can see and hear what the nurses are seeing and hearing using the instruments,” said health department Nurse Manager Chris Sikes. 

Sikes said she often sees adult patients who forgo basic medical care. 

“They are really great about taking care of children," Sike said. "But as adults, we don't get the physicals and they don't get the health screenings."

Those screenings are crucial, “So that we can prevent diseases from ever happening in the first place,” Sikes said. 

The once-a-month screenings will be low cost and open to adults and kids in the community. A local agency, the Middle Georgia Community Action Agency, will also offer help with prescriptions. 

About 14 patients can be seen each month with registration online, said Bonnie Brown, student services coordinator for the school district. 

“Our goal is to expand it,” Brown said. “Once we get those appointments filled up and we need to add another day or two, we’ll do it.”

Bringing health care access to the Student Support Center isn't a new initiative. 

At the beginning of the year, Brown and others hosted a mobile health clinic. Community partners saw more than 100 people come through for free check ups and specialized screenings. 

The idea was to address gaps in need identified among school-aged kids and their families. 

Spokesperson for the North Central Public Health District Michael Hokanson said this is the first partnership of its kind across the district’s 13 counties. He said plans to expand the model are dependent on whether or not it’s successful in Houston County, and would be “based on the resources we would have available.” 

According to an annual analysis of Middle Georgia's 13 counties, Houston County has the third-lowest ratio of primary care physicians to people living there, ranking just above Washington and Bibb counties.

Local public health departments statewide offer some screenings in-house too. Those interested are encouraged to call their local outpost or district office for more information. 

Tags: houston county  warner robins  healthcare access  health  Health  Telehealth  Public Health  Georgia Department of Public Health  Macon  Georgia