DUFUR’S STUDENTS are already ahead of the curve when it comes to important metrics for success. “Our graduation rate is 87%, and 64% of our students are present for 90% or more of the time,” reports Malcolm. “Both of these are above the Oregon average.” The school also has a history as a vital community hub, serving as a designated cooling center and providing a place for wildfire-smoke relief. Residents, whether they have kids or not, clearly value the school as a resource. But will students and their parents trust the clinic for their health care needs? “It takes a while to build that trust,” admits Nicolescu. “If you are not offering services consistently, it’s hard to gain traction. The need is there, but if you’re not consistent, the demand is not high. They are just not used to seeing you.” In answer, One Community Health has been operating a mobile medical unit at Dufur once a month to get students and parents used to the idea of accessing health care at school. “It’s been a great transition,” says Malcolm. “The parents have been welcoming and appreciative.” Nicolescu is hoping to steadily grow participation, starting with “maybe 15 patients the first month and then growing 5% to 10% a month after that.” Payment for this medical attention will come from private insurance providers, Medicaid or self-pay. “We use a sliding scale to determine the self-pay rate. If it’s an uninsured student, the visit is usually written off,” says Nicolescu. A $60,000 chunk of funding will also come from the state every year, a number that hasn’t changed since 2013. Efforts to pass Senate Bill 549A, allocating more money for these vital services, died during the last legislative session when Republican state legislators, including Dufur’s own representative, Bill Hansell, walked out on their jobs. House Bill 4070 — which would have invested some $18 million into school-based health clinics, $7.8 million for mental health and addiction programs, and another $10 million for new health centers — also failed in this year’s six-week short session. That draft bill would also make planning grants available to schools that want to create their An examination room in the new clinic Maureen Hinman, executive director of the Oregon SchoolBased Health Alliance own centers, as well as more funding for bonds to help with construction costs, according to Hinman in a November 2023 article from the Lund Report. Sad news for a state where kids are literally dying for lack of accessible health care. But Hinman and others remain hopeful that their next effort will be successful. She and others will push ahead with a similar bill that asks for more funding, including giving existing clinics a 10% bump and increases tied to inflation. Her goal is to keep the kids in Dufur and the rest of the state healthy, happ, and thriving in school. “In five years, I’d love to see a school-based health clinic in at least every high school or multilevel school,” she says. “Since we’ve seen them be successful in as small as a K-12 school of around 130 total students, I believe that is feasible.” 23
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