Working moms (and dads) know what’s involved when they get a call from the school about a sick child.  Certainly there’s concern over the child’s health but there’s also the issue of lost work time as they pick up the child, try to find a doctor and likely stay home the rest of the day with the little one.

Trinity Community Health Centers in both Winn and Rapides parishes have incorporated a system of care within their network that can resolve the lost-work problem while providing professional health care for children.  It’s called a School-Based Health Clinic.  This past school year they saw over 4,500* students through this service.

Candace Hubbard, a family nurse practitioner at Winn’s School-Based Clinic, explains.  “The focus of our clinic is keeping kids healthy and in-school.  We handle cases of acute illness so that the parent doesn’t have to leave work to get a doctor’s appointment.  But we’re more.  We also offer wellness visits in an effort to keep the children healthy and to head off later problems.”

The nurse practitioner assures that Trinity performs follow-up calls and works closely with parents in all cases.  Through contact with the Trinity professionals, Hubbard says, “the children see us.  They know who we are.  This helps eliminate the ‘fear factor’ of going to the doctor.  Because of this, kids take on a bigger role of taking care of themselves with little things like brushing their teeth and wearing seatbelts.”

As they say, “And there’s more…”  Trinity’s School-Based Clinics offer not only basic health care for the children but also offer a dental clinic, behavioral health services as well as vision and hearing screenings.

In its operation, the Trinity staff works closely with the schools and school nurses to provide this service.  “I love being able to work in the same area where my children go to school,” says Hubbard.  “I love the family-centered environment, bringing health care to people who might not afford it otherwise.  We fill the gaps in areas like transportation.  I truly believe we are meeting those needs.”

Candace Hubbard and husband Shane have two children, Alison and Gabriel Wren, who are students at Winnfield Senior High School.  She joined the Trinity Community Health Center family in 2013, assisting in the launch of the school-based clinic when it was a pilot program.  That clinic was initially located in the old Winnfield Intermediate School building but shifted to the old Adult Learning Center around the corner following Hurricane Laura.

The Lakeview High School graduate received her BS degree in nursing from NSU in 2005 and her MS degree in nursing, also at NSU, in 2013.  In the interim, she worked as an RN in the Natchitoches Hospital’s labor & delivery department.

*School-based student services numbers for the 2023-24 school year were 655 for dental cleaning, 904 behavioral health, 2,503 medical (sickness & wellness visits), 338 sports physicals and 189 flu shots.

“Our mission at Trinity Community Health Centers has always been to provide quality healthcare services to students and their families, regardless their ability to pay,” says CEO Deano Thornton.

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