Care center

CARES Center

New to Kirksville High School and the KATC is the CARES Center: Care at R-III for Every Student. Complete Family Medicine has instituted an outreach program located in the northwest corner of the Tech Center, where Mrs. Frazier’s office used to be. Open from 7:30 to 4:30 pm Monday-Friday, both faculty as well as students are welcome to access the services provided. There will be doctors, nurses, and providers who work there full-time. The CARES Center is hosting a tailgate party located --- on October 18th, so you can go and meet them there!

Referrals

To be seen at the CARES Center, the preferred hours are those during the school day (7:52-2:48). Students must go to the school nurse first, who will refer them to the center if needed. In order to be treated, a signed parental consent form must be on file. This form is not to be mistaken for the health form submitted to the school nurse - this must be obtained from the CARES Center themselves. Once signed and returned, you can then be treated. If services required are above those that the center can provide, they can then refer patients to a specialist, their own Urgent Care facility, or the ER if needed.

Services Offered

Services offered by the center are those above and beyond what the school nurse can provide. On a tour of the center, there are; two exam rooms, allowing for more people to be seen simultaneously; a provider office which houses two providers; a nurse station which will house a Nurse Practitioner and Licensed Nurse Practitioner; and a vaccine fridge and freezer. Currently, the fridge is mainly stocked with TDAP and Meningitis, as these two are needed for 8th graders and high school seniors. However, more can be shipped in as needed from their own building.

In addition to offering vaccines, the center can also draw blood and perform other basic tests (blood would be sent back to their lab for testing), give wellness visits/checkups, and other routine first aid. In terms of OMM (osteopathic manipulative medicine), OMM can only be performed when needed by a D.O., who visits the center in the later hours. Officials of the center will only treat sudden sports injuries if there is no one else available, such as an athletic trainer or field physician.

Payment/ Insurance

Students pay for services provided as they would at any other medical institution. Insurance can be used, such as Medicaid or private insurance. Complete Family Medicine offers a sliding scale based on the parent/guardian income as well as a “same-day self-pay” discount that allows services to be provided at an affordable rate. It was made a point that the CARES Center “never wants to withhold someone treatment due to financial inabilities.”