Rogue River School District efforts blossom in care desert

Rogue River School Board member Jay Chick cut the ribbon Tuesday, Sept. 16, for the grand opening of the Rogue River Early Learning and Wellness Center. He was joined by board members Heather Friend (left), Bruce Sund (third from left) and Mysti Jacob (right) as well as Southern Oregon Head Start Executive Director Katherine Clayton (second from right) and La Clinica Chief Operating Officer Brenda Johnson. (Photo by Jake Arnold, OSBA)

It took nearly a decade, but Rogue River now has early learning and child health care options where before it had practically none.

Community members gathered Tuesday, Sept. 16, for the grand opening of the Rogue River Early Learning and Wellness Center on school district property across the playground from the Rogue River Elementary School.

"This isn't a luxury," said Patrick Lee, Rogue River School District superintendent. "It's filling a huge need on both fronts. This is something that should make a generational impact in our community."

Small and rural communities around Oregon face a shortage of early child care options and primary health care. School districts are filling in gaps, although the response can often take a while as districts engage their communities and search for money.

Rogue River sits in several lightly populated valleys between Grants Pass and Medford along Interstate 5. Ten years ago, licensed child care and primary medical care options were nearly nonexistent. The community started seriously talking about the need for more services around 2016, but two student deaths in 2017 added urgency.

Heather Friend is the Rogue River School Board chair, but she was a grad student then, working toward becoming a nurse practitioner. Her master's project included looking at health care in the area. According to her research, 70% of the people in the ZIP code didn't have access to primary care. She signed onto a school district advisory committee to consider a clinic.

Former Rogue River Jr./Sr. High School Principal Jamie Wright became another driving force among the community group that included school board members, medical providers and education advocates. She said students were missing school because of health issues such as abscessed teeth or unfinished vaccinations because their parents couldn't get them to care. The student deaths revealed a level of trauma as well in a community that struggles with high rates of poverty, she said.

An advisory group started meeting about 2018 but ran into a roadblock with costs.

"There was no hope it was going to happen without legislative support," Lee said.

The effort went quiet for a bit, but legislative advocacy eventually paid off. Bipartisan legislative efforts produced a late-session funding bill addition in 2021 that allotted $3 million for the Rogue River School District to build a center to cater to the area's early learning and wellness needs. The district also received grant support for startup costs from The Ford Family Foundation, The Roundhouse Foundation, The Carpenter Foundation, Jackson Care Connect and The Cow Creek Umpqua Indian Foundation.

The challenge wasn't over though. Community members were concerned about the kinds of services students might receive in the clinic, a common question for districts exploring school-based health care.

Jay Chick was on the steering committee for the facility before he took up the cause as a Rogue River School Board member. He said they held town halls, posted fliers, engaged in social media and discussed the plans during school board meetings to debunk misinformation.

He said constant messaging from the school board, staff and people involved helped put the community more at ease.

"If anyone got approached in the grocery store or in the town or at the school board, our message was consistent," he said. "It was clear and concise, and it didn't matter who it came from. When everyone is that consistent with their message, it's hard to refute that."

The brick building with a metal roof sits on district property on the edge of the town center. The front houses a student-centered health clinic run by La Clinica with exam rooms and meeting rooms. The back of the building has two preschool classrooms run by Head Start with a kitchen in between.

Head Start has had a classroom on the edge of town for decades offering free preschool, but the new building allows it to double the number of 3-5 year-olds served by providing slots for 36 early learners. The new building also allows Head Start to use its old building for its first area program for children up to 3 years old.

Southern Oregon Head Start Director Stephanie Finch said she is excited to partner with the district to open up new education possibilities. Already this year, Head Start facilitated the kindergarten jumpstart, a warm handoff for the students in Head Start last year.

La Clinica is a federally qualified health center that provides care for underserved people, regardless of their ability to pay. Rogue River is La Clinica's 20th school-based location in Jackson County.

"Schools are a place where families feel safe so it's a natural place for care," said Elise Travertini Windbigler, the La Clinica director for school-based health centers.

The wellness center will serve all children in the school district ages 2 through high school graduation, regardless of whether they are enrolled in the district, according to Travertini. The clinic will provide medical and mental health care for students as well as offer community resource specialists to help families connect with care elsewhere.

Travertini said the clinic would start with hours from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday of the school calendar but La Clinica would evaluate if more time is needed.

School-based health centers are increasingly popular in Oregon. As of July, Oregon had 89 certified school-based health centers, according to the Oregon Health Authority.

Lee is excited about the building's potential to help the district's students.

Research shows Head Start provides students with cognitive, academic and social and emotional benefits that stretch into adulthood. Research also shows that school-based health centers not only improve student health but also increase school attendance. Students miss less school if they have their needs met immediately, particularly in rural areas where a doctor may be a long drive away.

For Friend, the building is also symbolic.

"When I drive past this school and see this building, it makes me feel like we have this group of people working together," she aid.

For Wright, the clinic is bringing meaning out of tragedy.

"People cared across aisles," she said. "It will transform this community."

- Jake Arnold, [email protected]