On May 20, Southern Illinois Healthcare Foundation [SIHF] teamed up with Alton School District to open a health clinic directly on Alton High school’s campus. This collaboration offers convenient and affordable medical services within the school environment. SIHF offers school sports physicals, immunizations, cold, cough, sore throat, earache, COVID/Flu Testing, behavioral health and preventive care for families and staff in the Alton School district.
The SIHF clinic is open 8:30 a.m.–3:30 p.m. on weekdays. In-person appointments are available Monday and Tuesday. Telehealth is available Wednesday through Friday. Telehealth can be available through phone call or video chat.
Family nurse practitioner, Stephanie Smith and registered medical assistant Melissa Mullins, work alongside each other to treat patients. Smith is able to provide primary care to patients of all ages. She can treat illnesses, order tests and even prescribe medication. Mullins can perform basic patient care duties like taking vitals, managing appointments and records.
“The nurse practitioner[Smith] is only here on Monday and Tuesday,” school nurse Margaret Wonders said. “But there is Melissa Mullinsshe’s a medical technician, she’s there on those other days and she can still do things like throat swabs and COVID tests.”
Parents and students have the option to get a personal consent form from the school nurses. Students with required health exams on file for their school year will be sent a form and a reminder of the required health exams at a later date.
“Then we obtain the paperwork, copy it, and we send copies down to the clinic [SIHF]. Students would still come here to check in with us,” Wonders said. “If your reason for visiting was something that needed to be seen by the nurse practitioner, then we could send them down to the clinic.”
For example, freshmen who have not had their physical exam on file will be reminded of the required date. Not only that but students will be sent home with a parental consent form for SIHF.
All students entering twelve grade are required to show proof of having received at least one dose of the MCV4 (meningococcal) vaccine on or after their sixteenth birthday. Students without proof of the vaccination will be subject to exclusion on Oct. 1.
SIHF accepts any insurance and patients are not required to have insurance to sign up. Parents will be contacted before their students can visit the clinic. You can call the clinic at 618-208-8574 to schedule an appointment, or talk to any of the school nurses about getting services.
