PRESS RELEASE

Plainfield Health Center Celebrates School-Based Health Center Month
Children Participate in Essay Contest at Elementary School Site

For Immediate Release: Wednesday, February 12, 2003-PLAINFIELD, NEW JERSEY- The Plainfield Health Center (PHC), one of fifteen Federally Qualified Health Centers in New Jersey, dedicated to providing cost effective primary health care services for the residents of Plainfield and surrounding communities, announced an essay contest in celebration of School-Based Health Center Month taking place throughout the month of February at The Healthy Place, Plainfield Health Center’s satellite facility at Washington Elementary School.

“The children have been provided with forms and have been asked to write an essay on why The Healthy Place is important to them,” said Nicole Vales Buckwald, Nurse Practitioner at the Plainfield Health Center’s satellite site. “We have received quite a few entries from the children, and surprisingly, from parents as well. At a time when most parents work and children are in school for the better part of the day, having your children’s primary health care providers right at school enables immediate care and less lost school time for children and work time for parents,” said Ms. Buckwald.

The Plainfield Health Center provides primary health care for over 300 elementary school children and 600 high school children, through its two school-based facilities and their satellite schools. In addition, PHC piloted its Asthma Chronic Care Program for children at The Healthy Place, before implementing the self-management model throughout PHC’s pediatric department. The school-based program was originally made possible through a three-year grant from the Robert Wood Foundation.

About The Plainfield Health Center

The Plainfield Health Center, incorporated as the Plainfield Neighborhood Health Services Corporation, was born in 1969 under the auspices of the 1960's Model Cities Neighborhood Program. Led by a dedicated group of community activists, the Center was initially created to provide accessible health care to the residents of the West End of Plainfield.

Since then, the Center has grown, added more services, increased the number of specialties of professional health staff, and expanded its reach to the entire City of Plainfield and neighboring communities, and to the City of Elizabeth. Today, the Plainfield Health Center serves more than 20,000 patients annually. Its total care program provides adult medicine, obstetrics and gynecology, pediatrics, adolescent medicine, school based services, dentistry and ancillary support services.

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