Health

8 HE ALTH • Winter 2020 • By Grant Welker Community health providers in Worcester are having a harder time reaching students since remote learning has le schools largely empty Finding ways to care for children W hen Worcester public schools were closed this fall because of the coronavirus pandemic, the health-minded decision not only kept students out of the classroom – it also took away a key way for community health providers to reach students easily while they're already in school. With schools closed in Worcester and many other communities, the city's two federally qualified health centers – Edward M. Kennedy Community Health Center and the Family Health Center of Worcester – have been scrambling to make sure they can still reach students in need in other ways. Kids who used to pop into an office for a quick visit between classes, during gym or lunch, or at other convenient times, now have to be reached in other ways. "Access has always been the reason we're there," said Susana Rodriguez, the Family Health Center's school- based health centers director. In many cases, the nurse practitioners or others who staff such school-based centers have been spending much of the pandemic calling students at home to either simply check in on how they're doing or to set up times to stop by clinics. In normal times, locations in schools are a major part of both community PHOTOS/COURTESY OF FAMILY HEALTH CENTER OF WORCESTER

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