CVHS’ new health clinic: “An absolute game changer”

On March 8, the CVUSD School Board announced the construction of a school-based health center on CVHS’ campus forthcoming August 2023.

“I’m so excited it’s ridiculous,” said health and medical careers teacher Sue Anderson. “You know, as a health science educator, it’s going to be such a boost for parents, for this community, and for students. 

CVHS will now join 30 other high schools in Alameda County that offer a school-based health center (SBHC) on campus. According to the California School Based Health Alliance, an official SBHC will give students access to primary care like a medical clinic and be “typically staffed by nurse practitioners, nurses, mental health providers, as well as part-time physicians and medical students.” 

“Access,” as Anderson explained, is something “we don’t always talk about when it comes to public health.” But she looks at access as “one of the biggest issues that we have not just in this community, but across the United States and in the world.” 

Indeed, with Medi-Cal (California’s Medicaid health program) ending automatic enrollments this year, one-third of the state’s population could lose access to medical services.

“When we have the opportunity to interface with healthcare professionals, I think about the communities and families here that don’t get that on a regular basis because of financial constraints, stigma, [or citizenship status],” Anderson explained. “I think having that open door says, ‘your health matters.’” 

In other words, this new health clinic will be a game changer.

In partnership with Tiburcio Vasquez Health Center—which already has locations at Tennyson, Hayward, and Logan High—CVUSD students and their families will have access to primary care services such as sports physicals, sensitive services such as pregnancy testing, and health education services that will connect students to medical professionals.

Like Anderson, Marian Meadows, the District Behavioral Health Coordinator sees the value in having an on-campus clinic. 

“I’m excited about students not having to leave campus to get the services because when they leave, we can’t support them,” she said. Now, “they [can] get the support from professionals at the clinic and then they can come here to the Wellness Center and get support if they need it.”

While CVHS’ Wellness Center provides behavioral health services, Meadows explained how COVID-19 shifted the urgency for physical health services, and, in turn, the health clinic.

“As part of our build-out of the Wellness Center, five [or] six years ago, we did a needs assessment, and then students, staff, and parents overwhelmingly said they wanted behavioral health services. It wasn’t the right time to bring in a medical partner,” Meadows said. The Wellness Center opened in the portables November 2017, but as soon as COVID-19 hit in March 2020, “students really started asking for medical help.”

When the 2022-23 school year hit, the CVUSD school board allowed on-campus accessibility of condoms to high school students in the district; the safer sex kits became the first medical services offered. 

“The kits were our first toe in the water for providing any kind of reproductive health resources, real resources, and they’re constantly getting used,” said Meadows.

Soon enough, she realized that the “[Wellness Center] needed a partner and Tiburcio Vasquez was available to partner with [with them].”

“Having a physical clinic on site to support primary and a little bit of secondary health issues is really instructive and important because we need health education in as many places and spaces throughout high school, not just in ninth-grade health,” Anderson underscored. 

“You know, we’ve done a good job,” Anderson added. “Everybody knows what PPE means. We know about hygiene, but we still are well behind the game when it comes to understanding STIs and reproductive health. So that’s a reason that having a physical clinic would benefit us.” 

Junior and co-president of the LGBTQ+ club Gabriela Arechiga agreed. 

“In regards to the student health services, adding additional services about safe sex between queer couples is essential,” she said. “Although safe sex is briefly covered in CVHS’s health curriculum, it often ignores queer relationships and struggles which leads to harmful miseducation amongst queer students.” With the health education component Tiburcio Vasquez offers, Arechiga stressed the importance of providing in-depth queer sex education. 

CVHS students like Arechiga have an opportunity to voice their opinion about what the new health clinic will provide. A group of students, parents, CVHS facility staff, administrators, teachers, Tiburcio Vasquez members, and other community partners will gather to form a planning committee in preparation for the new health clinic.

“It’s meant to be a broad group of folks to guide the development in not just making sure the buildings get built or cleaned up, but so we’re bringing on a health partner and system that meets the needs of current students, not the adults,” Meadows explained. “It’s a high school health center. It’s not an adult health center. It will serve adults but it needs to be built with students’ voices.”

In fact, student involvement will continue once the health clinic is on campus. “[Tiburcio Vasquez is] going to provide direct education to patients who come in, and then as we get established, [we will bring] on peer health educators,” Meadows continued. “That piece will definitely be a partnership between Tiburcio Vasquez, [the Wellness Center], and the health teachers.”

While peer health educators won’t end up doing direct patient interaction for patient privacy, a peer health education program could look a number of different ways. For instance, students in Berkeley High School’s Sexual Health From Teens (SHIFT) program learn about different health topics during weekly meetings and present to classrooms about sexual health. At Logan High School’s Hip-Hop Elements Program (facilitated by Tiburcio Vasquez), students learn to DJ, break dance, write and perform spoken word poetry, and choreograph hip-hop dances all with a health focus.

At CVHS, however, a peer health education program is still under development. What is certain is that students taking the medical careers pathway will gain direct exposure shadowing professionals.

“I have students that are fighting fires and are helping people post-injury to recover. They learned some really valuable tools,” Anderson explained. “But having a clinic on-site [is an] absolute game changer. I am excited about how my curriculum is going to shift because of the work that we get to do with the clinic.”

Anderson continued: “It’s huge for our community to say we value your health not just when you’re in crisis. We value your health not just when you’re learning about it, but when you’re going to do it personally and professionally.”

Students like Arechiga are hopeful for the future of public health for the CVHS and the broader Castro Valley community. “At the end of the day, even the littlest of services can help,” she said.

“It’s much more empowering to have agency in your own health when you have access to care, right?” Anderson said. “You feel like it matters and you matter.”