With Kids Returning to School, It’s Time to Revisit Urgent Care’s Role in Providing On-Site Care

School nurses have their hands full on a good day, but the COVID-19 pandemic has added layers of responsibility for temperature taking, educating the educators on protocols for the virus, figuring out which children could have been exposed to which family whose father was just diagnosed with the virus…. Even with many states announcing plans to return to “normal” in the fall, it’s likely that precautions (and certainly concerns) will continue for the foreseeable future. Could this be an opportunity for urgent care to explore taking on a support role for local schools? The Crestview (Ohio) Board of Education seems to think so. According to an article published in the Salem News, Quickmed Urgent Care is essentially on call to respond when a child gets sick in the middle of the school day and parents can’t pick them up to bring them home or take them to the pediatrician’s office. When the need arises, a physician or other clinician shows up at a school ready to perform a strep test, do a laceration repair, or administer vaccinations to children. Parents can opt in or out on their children’s behalf. The cost is covered either by the family’s insurance or a program for children who are not covered. Quickmed also conducts physicals for student athletes in the district. The article emphasizes that the service is not intended to replace what the school nurses do, but rather to supplement their efforts so they’re free to provide lower-acuity care and to teach health classes. What are the needs in your community—and could your urgent care team pitch in to fill them?