New York – The Children’s Aid Society has been awarded a $482K grant in capital funds from the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) for its School-Based Health Centers Program to implement an Electronic Health Records (EHR) system and to purchase much needed medical and dental equipment, including dental chairs, digital X-Rays, vision testers and audiometers.
The HRSA awarded a total of $95 million in competitive federal grants to 278 programs across the country with over $12.1 million distributed among 37 SBHC sites in New York.
“The implementation of the EHR system will have a significant impact in the efficiency of our practice: productivity will be increased and risk of errors will be reduced; and the elimination of paper records will greatly reduce CAS’ carbon footprint” said Adria Cruz, the School Health Services Manager for The Children’s Aid Society. It is estimated that these improvements will benefit nearly 5,000 students in Washington Heights and East Harlem where Children’s Aid operates five school based health centers.
Experts consider School Based Health Centers (SBHC) to be one of the most effective and efficient ways to provide preventive health care. With parental consent, medical, dental and mental health services are provided to students in their schools. This proactive approach prevents health issues from becoming acute concerns in the home, emergency room or community. As a result, youngsters miss fewer school days and parents miss fewer days at work.
About The Children’s Aid Society
The Children’s Aid Society is an independent, not-for-profit organization established to serve the children of New York City. Our mission is to help children in poverty to succeed and thrive. We do this by providing comprehensive supports to children and their families in targeted high-needs New York City neighborhoods. Founded in 1853, it is one of the nation’s largest and most innovative non-sectarian agencies, serving New York’s neediest children. Services are provided in community schools, neighborhood centers, health clinics and camps. For additional information, please call Anthony Ramos at (212) 949-4938/ (347) 439-7727, email anthonyr@childrensaidsociety.org or visit www.childrensaidsociety.org.