University of North Texas Health Science Center partners with Fort Worth elementary school
Fort Worth, Texas – Eastern Hills Elementary School in Fort Worth is poised to host a new children’s health facility, thanks to a collaboration with the University of North Texas Health Science Center.
The board of the Fort Worth Independent School District gave the green light on Tuesday for this alliance. This will enable the medical school to start offering health services at the school, situated in an underprivileged area of east Fort Worth.
“Dr. Christina Robinson, medical director of UNT HSC’s Pediatric Mobile Clinic program, told the Star-Telegram that the medical school will begin providing mental and behavioral health care at the school over the next few months, and will begin offering comprehensive medical care next spring.” In this initiative, UNTHSC will provide healthcare professionals to run the clinic, while the school district maintains ownership and upkeep of the premises.
Previously, until 2021, Eastern Hills Elementary was among four campuses in Fort Worth ISD hosting clinics in collaboration with JPS Health Network, the county’s public hospital. However, in 2021, JPS shut down most of its school-based clinics, including those in Fort Worth ISD. Instead, it redirected students and families to community clinics and collaborated with Cook Children’s for pediatric care.
Robinson clarified that UNT HSC’s plan isn’t to reopen all the clinics closed by JPS. Future expansion of campus-based clinics remains uncertain. The partnership with Eastern Hills Elementary emerged because it’s located in a neighborhood lacking easy access to pediatric services. The nearest Cook Children’s clinic is roughly six miles away, a challenging distance for families dependent on public transit. UNT HSC’s mobile clinic has frequented the area for years, providing vaccinations and other services, but the demand exceeded what these visits could supply.
Robinson highlighted this partnership as an ideal opportunity due to existing needs, available space, and pre-existing community collaborations.
The decision to establish the clinic at Eastern Hills Elementary was made smoothly, with minimal public focus and no board debates. However, similar proposals in other districts have faced parental resistance. For instance, in the Denton Independent School District, the proposal for a campus-based clinic was met with skepticism and concern from parents and residents, labeling it as a potential source of excessive district intervention, as reported by the Texas Tribune. Nonetheless, the Denton school board passed the proposal with a 6-1 vote.
