Mitchell County School & Family

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To improve access to health care for low-income school children and adults living in rural, isolated mountain communities, the Mitchell Community Health Partnership created School and Family Health Centers in K-8 schools in Tipton Hill (1999) and Buladean (2002). While Tipton Hill School has only 110 students and Buladean School 100 students, these health centers are open to the approximate 5000 adults and children living in the mountain valleys around Buladean and Tipton Hill.

Several focus groups in Buladean and Tipton Hill had indicated a strong need for better access to health and medical services. Many residents of these mountain valleys are an hour away from the health clinic in Bakersville and even farther from Spruce Pine Community Hospital. Often, helicopter services are the only practical way to transport emergency victims to regional hospitals. In 2001, almost 1/3 of the families in the area had incomes below the poverty level, and since then, the area has been devastated by several factory closings. Local leaders estimate the actual unemployment rate in the area to be about 30%. Seventy-two percent of Tipton Hill students and 85% of Buladean students receive free and reduced lunches. Before the recent economic crisis, 35% of area families had no health insurance; now, the rate is much higher.

These school-based health centers were opened with the the help of the Bakersville Community Medical Clinic, the Mitchell Community Health Partnership, The Steele-Reese Foundation, and the Mitchell County Public School System. They provide school nursing services, preventative health care, health education, primary care, and acute care to students and community adults. The majority of services go to enrolled students (about 97% participate), but adults, especially those who do not have insurance or reliable transportation and the frail elderly, make extensive use of the Centers.

The Centers are staffed by a part-time nurse practitioner and a registered nurse and are supervised by physicians at the Bakersville Community Medical Center. The registered nurse provides classroom instruction, outreach to special needs students, and visits to the frail elderly. In addition to these services, a nutrition commercial video was written and performed by Tipton Hill 4th grade students and shown by the local cable company to over 150,000 homes. The 5th grade students planted a garden, harvested their vegetables, and prepared a spaghetti supper as a fundraiser. The school allowed the health center to open the school gym to the community at night for exercise classes and Family Fun nights. With health center staff assistance, Buladean School was the first school in the county to have a tobacco-free campus. With the help of a grant, the School and Family Health Centers offered complete physicals, referrals, and Spanish health materials to Hispanic students in the county.