Our Programs > McClymonds Health Clinic
McClymonds High School counselor Alex Briscoe and principal Lynn Dodd knew that addressing the physical and mental health issues of their students were as essential as enhanced educational programs. In 2002, PVF initiated a Health Clinic Program providing school-based preventative health, mental health, vision and dental screening, and health education services at McClymonds High School, collaborating with service providers from Oakland Children’s Hospital and UC Berkeley’s School of Optometry.
The McKesson Foundation and the Y & H Soda Foundation provided first funding for this PVF initiative. Subsequently collaborative support from funders including the San Francisco Foundation and the Alameda County School-Based Health Collaborative have enabled the school's dream of a school based health clinic to become a reality: the Chappell Hayes Health Clinic at McClymonds Educational Complex.
Donors wishing to support essential health services and afterschool youth programs at McClymonds Educational Complex can contribute to PVF's McClymonds Designated Fund. Please contact us for more information.
"Every high school should have a health clinic the same way they have a gym." - Alex Briscoe, visionary former McClymonds counselor, now Director of Children's Services for Alameda County.
Student leaders at McClymonds High School in West Oakland, CA, work as Peer Health Educators at the new school-based health clinic. Offering on-site preventative health care, vision and dental screenings, and mental health services, has resulted in reduced rates of teen pregnancy and STDs, fewer hospitalizations, and lowered stress, all of which contributes to academic success.
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"I cannot 'fix' my teens in my clinic. That is not where their illness occurs. I'm dealing with issues of economy, social injustice, racial disparity. It is when teens go out the door of my clinic and into their communities that they are at risk. That is why we need partnerships, so that we can be where teens experience problems. So we can really take care of them." - Barbara Staggers, MD, Oakland Children's Hospital Teen Clinic