The nugget., January 20, 2016, Page 7, Image 7

Wednesday, January 20, 2016 The Nugget Newspaper, Sisters, Oregon
School-based health clinic operating in Sisters
By Diane Goble
Correspondent
St. Charles School-Based
Health Care (SBHC), housed
in the small red building
next to Sisters High School,
opened its doors last year to
serve the healthcare needs
of all children in Sisters.
What started with a trickle of
maybe one child a day most
of last year has now become
8 to 12 patients a day, about
which program director Emily
Salmon is very excited.
“Our goal is to have no
slow days,” she said.
The program grew out
of the cooperative efforts
of St. Charles Health
System, Deschutes County
Behavioral Health Services,
Sisters School District, and
Advantage Dental’s School-
Based Dental Clinic to pro-
vide integrated healthcare to
all children from newborn
through age 20.
“We aim to treat the whole
person,” said Salmon, “not
just the symptoms.”
Rob Ross, M.D., is the
medical director of the facil-
ity and Angelina Zamboni, a
bilingual nurse practitioner,
provides clinical care deliv-
ery. Linda Wencel is the clinic
supervisor and Kacie Smartt is
a medical assistant. New to the
staff this year is Jay Stalker,
MSW, who is an integrated
behavioral health consultant.
Very often there is an
underlying behavioral prob-
lem impacting physical health.
In collaboration with the fam-
ily nurse practitioner, Stalker
provides assessment, behav-
ioral intervention, and skill
building to promote improved
overall well-being.
Jenn Noble, a part-time,
licensed, professional coun-
selor for Deschutes County,
offers therapy for school-aged
children and their families,
working to address social,
emotional, and behavioral
issues. Noble is also trained
in Parent Child Interaction
Therapy, which is prescribed
for children under the age of 7
and their caregiver(s).
The SBHC is a primary
care service where parents
may bring their children for
well-child exams, immuniza-
tions, sports physicals, diag-
nosis and treatment, preg-
nancy tests, STD testing and
contraceptive counseling
with prescriptions or over-
the-counter contraceptives.
Medical records are electroni-
cally transmitted for follow-up
with their primary physician
for coordinated care. In accor-
dance with Oregon state law,
patients aged 15 years or older
may consent for their own
medical care at the SBHC and
other medical clinics. (Young
people over 15 may come to
the center for services without
parental consent.)
Sisters school nurses, Trish
Roy and Debbie Willitts, told
The Nugget, “We feel fortu-
nate to have a school-based
health center available for
the students of Sisters School
photo by Diane goble
the staff of the school-based health clinic in Sisters are ready to serve.
District. It offers easily acces-
sible management of health
needs for children/young
adults.”
They encourage parents
to stop by and get acquainted
with the services available.
Lack of dental care has
become a huge problem
all over Oregon, especially
among children. Neglecting
cleanings and dental car-
ies can lead to gum disease,
which leads to secondary
infections, which makes chil-
dren susceptible to all kinds of
systemic illnesses. Advantage
Dental provides Community
Dental Hygienist Tiffany Foy
to perform dental screening
exams and preventive dental
services for students, includ-
ing information about preven-
tive home care.
Patients will be seen
regardless of their ability
to pay or insurance status.
No one will be turned away.
They don’t want payment to
be a barrier to services and
will work with the family to
arrange payments. The pro-
gram does receive grant funds
from the State of Oregon; it
operates on a fee-for-service
model.
In 2016, the SBHC
staff plans to work with
local schools and the Youth
Advisory Council (adminis-
tered by Deschutes County) on
educational programs related
to age-appropriate mental
and physical health and well-
ness, as well as interactions
with students interested in the
field of healthcare. The clinic
works closely with health sci-
ences teachers in the schools
and provides class tours of the
clinic and its services.
The Sisters School-Based
Health Clinic at 1680 W.
McKinney Butte Rd. is open
Mondays and Thursdays
from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
Appointments with Advantage
Dental are on the first and
third Thursdays from 8:30
a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
Annual FOSL Art Exhibit underway
By Jim Anderson
Correspondent
On a recent Monday morn-
ing — when the Sisters Library
was closed — the Community
Room was the scene of a con-
tinual flow of artists, spouses
of artists, and even small chil-
dren of artists. They were all
involved in delivering pieces
of art for the annual Friends of
the Sisters Library (FOSL) Art
Exhibit, which will be on dis-
play throughout the library for
the rest of January and most of
February.
Paintings, pastels, land-
scape and wildlife photo-
graphs, sculptures, pottery,
scratchboard art, jewelry,
exquisite wooden boxes, quilts
and other fiber arts, wood cuts,
and many other mixed media
pieces — including a raven
designed as an airplane, with
landing gear — kept coming
through the door all day long.
A total of 171 pieces was
submitted for this year’s
exhibit, 39 more than last year.
Each one had to be checked in,
photo by Jim anDerson
Members of the FoSL Art committee, and contributing artist Norma Holmes (left), stand among all the art being
prepared for the 2016 FoSL Art exhibit taking place now through February 25.
labeled, and then either hung
on the walls or artfully dis-
played in the glass cases in
the library entry. These tasks
were all accomplished by a
very small but dedicated com-
mittee, which also organizes
the artist reception and silent
auction.
The free public reception
and auction of donated art is
scheduled for Friday, January
22, 6 to 7:30 p.m. Participating
artists will be on hand to meet
the public. Most of their work
is available for sale.
There will be beverages
and hors d’oeuvres served for
guests to enjoy as they browse
the artwork, greet friends, and
vote for the three Peoples’
Choice awards, which will be
announced that evening.
The event, in its 11th year,
is a highly anticipated social
event that is a lot of fun for
residents of Sisters Country.
The annual art exhibit is just
one of many activities and
events sponsored by FOSL for
the community, to aid in rais-
ing supplementary funds for
library programs.
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