School-Based Health Centers director receives state award

LYNN – It has been 17 years since Donna Coe lead the effort to open Lynn’s first school-based health center at Lynn Vocational and Technical Institute, kicking off a program that has since expanded to six schools in the city.She organized the health centers with the belief that the only real way to connect with adolescents and keep them healthy was to bring health care to them, inside their schools where they could talk to someone about their problems without being embarrassed.Coe was recognized last week by the Massachusetts Coalition of School-Based Health Centers as the 2008 recipient of the organization’s Outstanding Clinician Award at a ceremony held during a legislation event on Beacon Hill.The School-Based Health Centers, available at LVTI, Classical, English, Breed Middle School, Marshall Middle School and the Ingalls Elementary School, act in the same way as the Lynn Community Health Center on Union Street, offering primary care and walk-in service to adolescents while they are in school.Coe began the first effort at LVTI in 1991 because she wanted to make sure that students did not neglect their health and cause a spiral into other negative things.”In order to serve adolescents you have to be in their house,” she said. “You really find out who they are, who they are with and how they interact with their peers when they are in the school. We have found that if students aren’t healthy they aren’t going to be successful, because if a kid struggles with one thing, like their health, they tend to struggle with everything, whether it be academics or drugs.”Coe continues to serve as the primary care nurse at the LVTI health center, and also as director for the other five centers in the district. As part of her visit to Beacon Hill, she lobbied lawmakers to increase funding from the Department of Public Health so that she can hire full-time mental health professionals to help students.”We have found that if you question a student about their mental health, they will answer you honestly,” she said. “But we have a huge need for that, and we don’t have steady funding right now. We have counselors but they are only here for a minimal amount of time. I am hoping to hire them full time five days a week for mental health and substance abuse treatment.”Coe says legislators have visited LVTI center and are on board with everything she is doing in the district, which is part of the reason they selected her for this award when she was nominated by Lynn Community Health Center Director Lori Berry.After 30 years, Coe admitted that some days make her briefly question why she is working so hard to make these health centers work, but an award like this can be rejuvenating and give her the passion that she needs to continue doing what she loves.”To be nominated by your co-workers and also when you put in this much energy it is always great to be acknowledged because this is a passion of mine,” she said. “It is not just an award to give out. The legislators have been here and they know the work that we do. They get it. It is great to have those people on the bandwagon.”The school-based health centers are open every day for students to make appointments or walk in with emergencies or questions.Coe says she will always be dedicated to this work because all too often, adolescents get overlooked by health care providers and do not get the attention they need to stay physically and mentally healthy.”Adolescents are sometimes a lost group because they are in between pediatrics and adult care,” she said. “But they are the next group that is going to lead our society so this is a great opportunity to be a health resource for them and teach them that they have to start empowering themselves and doing things on their own.”