FREEHOLD – The Freehold Borough K-8 School District has entered into an agreement with a health provider with the intent of ensuring that the health and well-being of the district’s pupils is maintained.
On Aug. 22, the Board of Education passed a resolution entering into an agreement with the Visiting Nurse Association Health Group Inc. (VNAHG), a not-for-profit health provider, for the purpose of providing healthcare services to students.
According to the resolution, the board approved the submission of a letter of intent to partner with the United Way of Monmouth and Ocean Counties as part of an integrated health impact plan with the purpose of providing in-school access to health services for students.
Freehold Borough was a successful applicant to the integrated health impact program to provide nurse practitioner services to students at no cost to the district.
The health services are for all district students and will rotate between the Freehold Learning Center elementary school and the Park Avenue Complex, which houses the Park Avenue Elementary School and the Freehold Intermediate School, according to district administrators.
The agreement took effect on Sept. 1.
The VNAHG, according to the resolution, will be responsible for providing advance practice nurses for a maximum of 11 hours per week on the premises of the schools, providing healthcare services to the students, maintenance of records and record keeping for all services provided, providing workers compensation coverage and liability and malpractice insurance coverage for VNAHG employees, along with assuring that VNAHG staff are licensed and qualified to provide the qualified services, and providing regular and periodic billing for services provided.
Healthcare services the VNAHG is responsible for providing to pupils includes, but is not limited to performing a limited number of school entry physicals, sports physicals and work physicals by a nurse practitioner as necessary, assessment and episodic care for children as approved by a parent or guardian, teaching about medication and self-care, consultation with parents, staff and/or faculty regarding student health issues, collaborating with other health professionals, and other nursing activities that are required and agreed to by the Freehold Intermediate School, the school board, parents or guardians and the VNAHG, according to the resolution.
The school district, according to the resolution, will be responsible for providing the VNAHG with a list of children needing services and with the health policies of the board, providing support on days of operation, assuring appropriate liability coverage for its employees and facilities, and providing appropriate areas within the school for provision of services, including treatment areas, storage areas and secure filing cabinets for the maintenance of medical records.
There will not be any charge to pupils for the services, according to the resolution. Although the services are sponsored by the United Way of Monmouth and Ocean Counties, the VNAHG may bill Medicaid for the services rendered to students. The VNAHG and the district agreed that the nurse practitioner’s time will be provided at no cost to the district.
“The district recognizes it has many low income families who have problematic access to health care,” Superintendent of Schools Rocco Tomazic said. “This initiative with the Visiting Nurse Association, funded by the United Way of Monmouth and Ocean Counties, seeks to address some of that need by placing an advanced care nurse in the schools at selected times during the week.
“This professional will be able to provide many routine medical services for our students that are beyond the scope of a school nurse,” Tomazic said. “It is our hope that as a result of this initiative we will have healthier students and that this will have a direct and positive impact on their educational learning.”