El Rio and the Sunnyside Unified School District collaborated to open two comprehensive pediatric school-based clinics in Fall 2002. All 16,000+ students in the District (including any siblings under 18 who do not attend the school) are eligible for services with parental consent. The bilingual/bicultural services include a full range of basic primary care as well as immunizations; sports and school physicals; treatment for injuries; specialty programs such as our nationally known inner-city asthma and diabetes programs; weight management and nutritional counseling; and basic laboratory testing.

The clinics establish a direct connection for every child served at the school-based health centers with a primary care provider. If the child does not have a medical home, the school-based health center will facilitate arrangements for providing one. Through Health-e-Arizona (Arizona's only "one-stop shopping" website for patients to apply for state-assisted health insurance), the clinics screen students and their families for public insurance eligibility and submit applications for coverage. So far, we have secured some form of insurance for 75 percent of applicants who were previously uninsured. 

The School-Based Clinics also now encompass our Sunnyside TeenAge Parent Program (TAPP) , which uses comprehensive school-based strategies and community linkages to minimize the impact of pregnancy and parenting on success in school, improve pregnancy outcomes and parenting skills, and prevent repeat pregnancies. The program continues to demonstrate its success, decreasing the expected dropout rate by 300% and raising graduation rates significantly.