The Grant School-Based Health Center operated by the Multnomah County Health Department will close on June 15, 2017, the last day of school. The County has served students in the school since 1990.
Why is this clinic closing?
The Health Department regularly evaluates its programs and resources to assure it is allocating services equitably and reducing health disparities. In reviewing socioeconomic need, clinic visit data and the geographic distribution of its 13 school-based health centers, the County found areas with greater need.
How do needs compare?
Neighborhoods have changed across Multnomah County. North and Northeast Portland has gentrified and East County has grown in both population and need. Grant High has the lowest rate of students eligible for free-and-reduced lunch of all schools with a school-based health center - 21 percent. Reynolds High and Gresham High, in comparison, have more than 60 percent of students eligible for free-and-reduced lunch. Neither East County school has a school-based health center.
Grant also has a lower percentage of students on the Oregon Health Plan/Medicaid than other schools.
Do students still rely on the clinic?
Students’ visits to the Grant clinic have dropped 53 percent in the last five years, the largest decrease across the county system. Students who do use the clinic also visit fewer times than students at other centers, an average of 2.2 visits per student, versus the state average of 3.3.
Where can students get care?
Grant students can still access healthcare and services at any school-based health center.
The Franklin School-Based Health Center will be the nearest center to Grant students as they are temporarily relocated to the Marshall campus during the school’s upcoming renovation.
Three school-based health centers are less than four miles from the current site: at Madison, Jefferson, and Benson High Schools.
Students can also receive health services at Multnomah County's Southeast Health Center, La Clinica and Northeast Health Center.