District 21 Health Center celebrates partnership between education

Community Consolidated School District 21 held a grand opening Monday for its new District 21 Health Center at 959 W. Dundee Road in Wheeling.

The center, which opened at the end of May, is a partnership between the district and Advocate Children’s Hospital. Providing comprehensive health care services to children from kindergarten through eighth grade, it is one of the only school-based health centers in Illinois.

Access to quality health care is a cornerstone of student success, District 21 Superintendent Michael Connolly said. When our students are healthy, physically, mentally and emotionally, they are better able to learn, grow and thrive.

District 21 school board President Debra McAtee noted the center “removes barriers for our families and helps our students to become successful individuals.”

Several legislators and local leaders, District 21 school board members and Advocate Children’s Hospital representatives attended. They were led on a tour of the facilities, which included examination rooms, a lab, a child-friendly play-therapy room filled with toys and a teen room.

Speakers included Mike Farrell, president of Advocate Children’s Hospital, who hailed the partnership between education and health care. Democratic U.S. Congressman Brad Schneider, who helped bring the center to life by securing more than $1 million in federal aid, also spoke.

Schneider emphasized the center will provide accessible, high quality care for more than 6,000 students across 13 schools.

Connolly said the center provides a lifeline to students. No longer will students miss school days because of a lack of transportation to a clinic across town. Nor will they have to wait weeks for an appointment.

“Our students can now get the care that they need, when they need it, and be back in the classroom ready to learn,” he said. Over the course of the summer, the center has already seen more than 350 students.