St. Clair County Community College students looking for help with health services, such as preventative consultations, immunizations and coronavirus testing, may have close access later this year.

The St. Clair County Board last week authorized the health department to enter an agreement with SC4, providing a full-time public health nurse on campus.

Tom Kephart, the college’s director of admissions and marketing, said SC4 approached the county after getting inquiries about having health programs on campus. Citing the health care programs taught at SC4 and student housing in downtown Port Huron, he said they thought working with the health department would help meet needs in multiple ways.

“I know we have talked about this type of thing before because, obviously, we do have students who have had needs in this area, as well,” Kephart said Friday. “Our students come from a wide area and a wide number of backgrounds, and being able to provide this type of health service is another good opportunity to help our students concentrate on getting an education. When you’re worried about, ‘Am I healthy? Where am I going to get services?’ it makes it difficult.”

According to a memo to the county board, the agreement calls for the college to provide the health department $90,000 for the nursing position. SC4 would also provide space, including all utilities and other office amenities.

It wasn’t clear where on campus that site would be, nor its hours of operation.

“Really, the final, ‘Yeah, let’s do this,’ came together in a fairly short period, so the details are still be put together,” Kephart said. “I think we would like to get it up and running as soon as we can. I think we’d hope it’d be available before the end of the calendar year.”

Other services with the county’s nurse, according to the board’s memo, will include health screenings and education.

Dr. Annette Mercatante, the health department’s medical health officer, said she hopes  increasing the utilization of preventative health services will improve effectiveness of those services.

“A clinic on campus will serve as a bridge between ‘pediatric’ and the ‘adult’ care arena with a direct link to the health department’s Teen Health and Personal Health Clinics,” she said in an emailed statement. “This age group (18-24) has many new responsibilities and might not know where to get started or where to turn for advice. This clinic will be a great entry point and provide much needed preventive services. Accessibility is key on meeting the needs of this population who are typically working or at school during regular clinic/office hours. This age group is overall healthy, however, periodically may need services.”

The county already has a social worker providing mental health services in Algonac High School, according to the health department, and they’re also working with community partners to facilitate more physical and mental health services in other school districts.  

Health department spokeswoman Jennifer Michaluk said they have had health education programs in area schools for more than four decades with topics ranging from vaping and suicide prevention to communicable diseases and emotional intelligence.

Contact Jackie Smith at (810) 989-6270 or jssmith@gannett.com. Follow her on Twitter.

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