Skip to main content

Sarbanes Highlights Tremendous Benefits of School-Based Health Centers [Video]

June 4, 2019

At a Health Subcommittee Hearing, Congressman Sarbanes Makes the Case for Maintaining and Strengthening Federal Commitments to School-Based Health Centers and Connecting Them with Community Health Centers to Provide Enhanced Services to Students

WASHINGTON, D.C. – During a Health Subcommittee hearing today, Congressman John Sarbanes (D-Md.) highlighted the positive impact of school-based health centers (SBHCs) on students and called on Congress to maintain and strengthen its commitment to SBHCs. In addition, the Congressman stressed the importance of connecting SBHCs with community health centers in order to provide additional care and services to students.

"… It's children's stake in programs and services that led me to carve out a niche commitment or perspective here, in the Committee and in Congress, with respect to strengthening school-based health centers because I really feel like you have a captive audience … and if you can deliver services right there, on site, and do it in a consistent and comprehensive way, you can make a dramatic difference – not just for those individuals, for those students, but for their parents, the community, the health of the school, etc.," said Congressman Sarbanes, who authored and led the introduction of the School-Based Health Centers Reauthorization Act (H.R. 2075) to boost federal investment in vital health services for underserved students across America.

Sarbanes continued: "I've introduced some legislation that would strengthen the support of school based health centers, but I've always viewed the community health centers and their health as fundamental to building off of that this school based health response."

Sarbanes concluded: "We're going to continue to really lean on this effort around school-based health centers and to make sure that as we do it we're connecting it to the community-based health centers, and so keeping them strong."

See below for the Congressman's full remarks.

###

Issues:Health Care