COLERAIN TOWNSHIP, Ohio — Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center will begin sending its Mobile Care Center to Colerain High School and Northwest High School this school year, bringing primary care and preventive services directly to students in the Northwest Local School District.
The 39-foot-long Mobile Care Center features exam rooms, diagnostic equipment, triage areas and lab space. It is wheelchair accessible and staffed by Cincinnati Children's physicians, nurse practitioners and medical assistants.
WATCH: Cincinnati Children's is bringing its Mobile Care Center to local schools, a solution to chronic absenteeism
The unit will visit each school on an alternating monthly schedule, seeing patients from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. on the second Wednesday of each month. Up to 14 patients can be seen per visit.
The first visit will be at Colerain High School, 8801 Cheviot Road, on Sept. 9. The Mobile Care Center will return to Colerain on Nov. 11, then continue in 2027 on Jan. 13, March 10, May 12 and July 14.
Northwest High School, 10761 Pippin Road, will receive its first visit on Oct. 14, followed by Dec. 9. The Mobile Care Center will then return to Northwest in 2027 on Feb. 10, April 14, June 9 and Aug. 11.
Although the Mobile Care Center will be located at one of the two high schools on any given visit, services are available to students across the entire Northwest Local School District. Students from other district schools, such as Pleasant Run School, are welcome to receive care at whichever hub is scheduled that month. The two high schools are about 4 miles apart, and students from both can be seen at either location.
Adolescents ages 12 to 21 who live in the district but are not enrolled in Northwest Schools may also schedule appointments when the Mobile Care Center visits.
Services available include annual checkups and preventive care, sports and school physicals, work permit physicals, vaccines and bloodwork, asthma and acne care, nutritional health, vision checks, strep and flu testing, and mental health services including depression and anxiety. Additional days and services could be added if demand warrants.
Morgan Henry, director at Cincinnati Children's, said the program is rooted in the health system's community-centric approach to care.
"The goal of bringing Northwest High School and Cincinnati Children's together is really centered around our community-centric clinical care approach, where it is our goal at Cincinnati Children's to expand high-quality care beyond our four walls where kids spend a majority of their time, particularly where they live, learn and play," Henry said.
Henry also said the model is designed to reduce chronic absenteeism by eliminating the need for students to leave school for medical appointments and reducing the burden on working parents.
"Bringing accessible, high-quality clinical care to the community not only increases instructional time because children are no longer required to leave school to access their clinical needs, but it also increases flexibility for the family," Henry said. "That means that mother can stay at work or father can stay at work because they're no longer required to take a half day off to drive their kid to their medical appointments."
Henry noted that Cincinnati Children's has expanded its clinical services to more than eight school districts over the past two years alone, and that Northwest Local is the second-largest district in Hamilton County.
"When you think of the benefit of this service, and perhaps over 8,000 children get the opportunity to receive care closer to home, that's definitely a priority for Cincinnati Children's to continue to learn, perfect and expand that model," Henry said.
Emmanuel Chandler, director of Cincinnati Children's Division of Adolescent and Young Adult Medicine, said the partnership is aimed at removing barriers that often prevent families from accessing care.
"For many families, accessing health care can be challenging, especially when transportation, work schedules or long travel distances stand in the way," Chandler said. "Our division is excited to partner with the Mobile Care Center to remove barriers and bring care to teens and young adults closer to home and within their community."
Keva Brice, district nurse supervisor for the Northwest Local School District, said the partnership directly supports student success.
"Students are better able to learn and thrive when their health needs are being met, which is why we're always looking for new ways to connect our families with the resources and care they need," Brice said. "Bringing Cincinnati Children's Mobile Care Center directly to our high schools gives students and families another convenient way to access important health services right here in their own community. We're excited about what this partnership means for the health and well-being of our students."
Becky Taylor, manager of Cincinnati Children's Mobile Care Center, said the program is built on trust and access.
"By partnering with schools and communities, we can remove barriers to care, build trust with patients and families and create a more convenient path to the preventive and primary care services that help young people thrive," Taylor said.
The Mobile Care Center has logged more than 4,500 patient encounters since its launch in 2019. Cincinnati Children's also offers other school-based clinical care delivery methods, including brick-and-mortar school-based health centers, telehealth and portable care services.
An appointment is required. Existing patients can schedule through the MyChart app. New patients can call (513) 636-4681 or schedule online at Adolescent and Young Adult Medicine.
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