Salem school’s in-house clinic holds grand opening

SALEM -- The Salem school district's in-house Quaker QuickMed medical clinic held its grand opening Monday.

"We're very excited to be able to offer this to our students and staff. We think the advantages of an on-site health clinic for our students are obvious and hope people will take advantage of it," said Superintendent Sean Kirkland.

The grand opening was originally intended to take place March 27; however, the severe storm the weekend prior left the high school without power, necessitating the delay.

The clinic was originally intended to be operational beginning in September, and was made possible by a $1,872,887 contract awarded to QuickMed Urgent Care LLC by the Ohio Department of Health for school-based health centers at Salem City Schools and Liberty Local Schools. The high school was chosen as the location for the clinic due to holding the largest percentage of the district's students in a single building; however, the clinic will be available to all students in the district.

The clinic will be open from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday initially, with potential to add weekend hours in the future. The clinic has four treatment rooms and will be staffed by a licensed nurse practitioner (LPN) from QuickMed. As a result, with parent permission, the clinic can write prescriptions for students when necessary, and even conduct in-house drug screening and school physicals as required for student athletes.