The local high school plans to significantly reduce working hours for its resident nurse practitioner next year, citing funding cuts and reduced student demand.
Mt. Ararat High School in Topsham plans to cut the weekly hours of its on-site nurse practitioner from 20 to eight, a school health official told the Maine School Administrative District 75 Board of Directors at its meeting on Thursday, June 13.
The primary reason is a reduction in grant funding from the Maine Department of Health and Human Services, district Clinical Mental Health Supervisor Amy Hamilton told the school board. DHHS, which helps fund the high school’s Eagle’s Nest School Based Health Center, has reduced the amount of its grant for the coming year by $10,000, Hamilton said.
“The grant was less than it used to be, and so we’re really trying to be fiscally conscientious,” she told the school board. “Eight hours a week does meet grant requirements, and that’s really important, and it really meets the student needs at this point — we don’t have super high enrollment.”
The health center also receives regular grant funding from United Way of Mid Coast Maine, Hamilton said, and the amount of that funding hasn’t changed. The funding from DHHS is expected to return to a higher amount next year, she added.
According to the National Association of School Nurses, nurse practitioners perform a variety of job functions, such as diagnosing and treating medical conditions, prescribing medications, providing health education and counseling, and collaborating with parents, teachers and staff to support student health.
In addition to cutting the nurse practitioner’s hours, the Mt. Ararat health center plans to cut hours for its data specialist, or administrative assistant, either to four or eight hours per week.
Hamilton said another reason for the staff cuts is that the health center has been transitioning away from billing students’ insurance and toward providing free care.
“The (health center) is always looking for ways to reduce barriers to students accessing services,” she said in an email.
The health center’s previous nurse practitioner, Susan Martin, retired this month, Hamilton said. The high school already has identified a strong candidate to replace her who is willing to work two four-hour shifts per week, she said.
Students’ mental health has been a serious concern lately because of factors including academic and social disruption from the COVID-19 pandemic, and the wide-ranging negative effects of social media on adolescents.
Hamilton said the reduction in nurse practitioner hours won’t affect Mt. Ararat students’ access to mental and behavioral health services, which the high school provides in part through a partnership with the nonprofit mental health care provider Sweetser.
However, Sweetser announced recently that it would be scaling back the services it provides to some Maine schools, citing a $1.5 million annual loss and insufficient reimbursement from insurance, the Portland Press Herald reported. Sweetser did not specify which schools would face service cuts.
Student enrollment at the Mt. Ararat health center has been trending upward in recent years but remains below pre-pandemic enrollment, Hamilton told the board.
The health center had 264 students enrolled at the end of the school year, up from 237 a year earlier, according to Hamilton. Visits to the health center totaled 144 during the most recent school year, up from 134 the previous year.
“The goal for the (health center) is sustainability long-term,” Hamilton said in an email. “The reduction of nurse practitioner hours is in alignment with this goal and will meet the current need for services.”
Have a comment or news tip? Email J. Craig Anderson at craig@harpswellanchor.org.
