HOME ABOUT NGH

SUPPORT NGH CAREERS

ESPAÑOL

School Based Health Center

Asthma affects a large number of New York City's children and is a leading cause of missed school days and hospitalizations. Central and East Harlem have two of the highest child asthma hospitalization rates in New York City.

The North General Diagnostic and Treatment Center operates a Comprehensive School Based Health Center (SBHC) at PS 57, which has an enrollment of 750 students in grades Kindergarten through 8 and is located at 176 East 115th Street. The Center was established in response to the need for additional primary care services in East Harlem, and the Hospital's mission to provide culturally sensitive, easily accessible health care services to residents of this community. School based health centers have a proven track record for increasing access to care, ensuring the provision of screening and risk reduction services, and providing early and effective intervention.

The children of this community are disproportionately affected by asthma. East Harlem had one of the highest rates of hospitalizations for asthma in children age 0-14 in 2007 at 11 per 1,000 children. The rate for New York City was 5 admissions per 1,000 children for the same period. While the original focus of school health services was the control of communicable diseases, recent impact has been made on the management of chronic illness, especially asthma.

A range of health and mental health services and programs are provided at the Center. Nurse practitioners, psychologists and pediatricians provide health services with medical assistants and clerical staff.