PROGRAMS AND SERVICES North General Hospital has historically organized services in line with its mission and in response to the healthcare needs of the communities it serves.

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.”

North General Hospital operates a Comprehensive School Based Health Center (the Center) at PS 57, which has an enrollment of 750 students in grades Kindergarten through 5 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 the highest rate of hospitalizations for asthma in children age 0-14 in 2001 at 16 per 1,000 children. The rate for New York City was 6 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 and pediatricians provide health services with medical assistants, social workers and clerical staff.