Henry J. Austin Health Center will provide required physical exams and vaccines for Trenton Public School students at various locations throughout the city of Trenton.
“The goal of the school-based site services is to provide those services right at the school. So we help facilitate (and) make those appointments for the parents, and we let them know where they can come to have those services provided,” said Diana McNeil-Brown, Program Assistant for Henry J. Austin Health Center.
During the summer, Henry J. Austin Health Center hopes to provide these physicals and vaccines to give every child in Trenton a healthy shot at attending school.
“We made the decision that during the month of July, there are three schools in particular that have a summer program…we contacted those parents to schedule those appointments with them. We let them know when and where the services are being provided,” McNeil-Brown said.
The physicals and vaccines will be given in their Mobile Health Unit, which is stationed at different schools. McNeil-Brown explained that they are working with the Trenton School District to make sure all their information is up to date.
Henry J. Austin Health Center does not require insurance for those looking for service. Elona Deprez, Chief Development and Communication Officer, explained that they would take anybody who comes to them for help. “Whether our patients have insurance or not, we will never turn away someone for their inability to pay,” Deprez said.
The Mobile Health Unit was created to help service Trenton’s health needs. It is funded through the America Rescue Plan.
“As you may know, the Trenton community is an underserved community, and almost 70% of our patients are below the poverty line. So they face a lot of language barriers, transportation barriers, a lot of the parents of these children work two to three jobs in order to support their families,” Deprez said. “it can be difficult for them to actually take off work to bring their child in for a physical or examination or vaccinations. So with this grant that we received, we were able to offer these services through a Mobile Health Unit by actually partnering with the school district.”
The Mobile Health Unit is filled with medical supplies and a team of professionals looking to help the city.
“I can attest to actually being on the Mobile Health Unit that all the providers are very friendly,” said Gabrielle Gomez, Media and Communication Specialist. They will help you, if we don’t have something, we can give you a resource and send you somewhere else to get the help you need, and also, many of our providers are bilingual as well.”
There will be physicals and vaccinations from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. on July 5, 2022 through July 28, 2022, at the locations and dates below.
- Copeland (formerly named Columbus): July 26 at 1200 Brunswick Avenue
- PJ Hill: July 20, 27 at 1010 East State Street
- Mott: July 21, 28 at 45 Stokely Avenue
They also offer evening and Saturday hours. For more information or to schedule an appointment call 609-278-5900 or go to their website at https://henryjaustin.org/