Shelby’s school health center is making a difference
By David Jacobs
More than a year after opening its doors, the Shelby City Schools' health center has seen steady growth in patient visits, with district officials calling its presence important for students and families in Shelby and beyond.
The Shelby school-based health center was launched in partnership with Nationwide Children’s Hospital as part of a statewide push to improve student access to medical care.
The Shelby location is in the building that houses the Board of Education Office, 109 West Smiley Ave.
Assistant Superintendent Paul Walker, the Shelby district's curriculum director, emphasized the importance of the school-based center, recalling how the district has seen various programs come and go over his 12 years in Shelby.
“This is a program that we want to keep around forever,” he said. “It’s made such a big impact on our kids. We want to thank Nationwide and the school board and the district and the community for this.”
At the March 10 Shelby School Board meeting, Walker welcomed administrator Matt Moore from Columbus-based Nationwide Children’s Hospital, who helped launch the center in Shelby and returned to provide an update alongside its two full-time medical staff members: nurse practitioner Melisa Oberdier and nurse Erica Garcia.
“Remember, we opened in December of (2023). Here we are 15 months later,” Walker said.
Usage, key services
Via a presentation of visuals, Oberdier reported that since it opened, 1,694 visits were made by 785 individual patients as of the end of February 2025.
“You can see multiple patients have been there multiple times,” she said. The center has provided 396 well-child checks, 1,085 acute or sick visits, and 439 primary care mental health visits, in addition to administering vaccines.
"You can see that over half of the patients that we’ve seen have just been since the beginning of the school year," Oberdier said. "So I think really the word got out and I think just being in this location was really helpful."
She noted that the health facility is able to get patients in quickly, either the same day or the next day, whether it's a sports physical to be able to start practice or if someone is ill.
SEE Shelby school-based health center's website
It also offers flu, strep and COVID-19 testing, along with on-site blood work. Oberdier explained how the center’s presence has reduced absenteeism and the need for parents to leave work.
“If they are not contagious, not feeling terrible, we can get their medicine sent to the pharmacy, send them back to class,” she said. “Parents didn’t have to leave work, and the kids don’t miss school.”
Oberdier also explained the process of getting a child into the center.
“The parents will call in if their child is sick or needs a physical, and they can set it up that way,” Oberdier said. “Or let’s say a child is complaining of ear pain or sore throat, they typically go down and see (the district nurse), and she calls the parents.”
The center has also begun tracking a new metric to measure how much class time students save by using on-site medical services.
“So many times when a student has an appointment, they might miss a half-day, full day,” Moore explained. “When they’re coming down to the clinic, a lot of times they’re just missing maybe an hour, half hour.”
That metric is being quantified and will be provided at a future update.
Increased awareness and reach
The center remains open even when school is closed due to weather, for example. “We’re here Monday through Thursday from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.,” Oberdier said. “Even when the kids are off school" -- such as for a snow day or a late-start day -- "we are still here at 8 o’clock.”
And all summer long.
"That is critical for our families," Walker said.
Walker and the board discussed ways to ensure families know about the health services. Shelby School Board member Brad Ream asked, “Do we do any advertising for the services?”
Officials responded that the health center is promoted through the district’s website and FinalForms, an online documents platform for parents.
Walker added that new parents enrolling their children receive flyers with health center details, and an email will be sent to parents before spring break.
The center accepts Medicaid and other insurance and no child will be denied care due to inability to pay for services, the health center website states.
Patients are seen up to age 21. They do not need to be from Shelby to be seen at the facility.
Oberdier noted that while most patients are from Shelby, the center has seen children from Galion, Willard, Crestline, New Washington, Perrysville, Lexington, and Ontario.
Walker said visitors from other districts have toured the facility and expressed surprise at the level of care offered on-site.
“They just can’t believe that we have this service in the district,” he said.
He shared a story about a youngster who visited the center for care.
“And then the next week, I was walking back from the building, and the mom pulled in,” Walker said. “She didn’t have [the young student], but she had her 1-year-old and she brings that child in. It's just amazing what's able to happen."
Families do not always have a primary care doctor, or maybe they cannot get into one, he said. "But they are able to go in and see our (health) office here," he added.
Statewide trend
In response to a question from school board vice president Kim Nadolsky about other school-based health centers in the region, Oberdier provided details. “Yes. So Mansfield City Schools, Third Street clinic is in there. Malabar has Third Street clinic. I think we’ll start seeing more of these.”
Moore, representing Nationwide Children’s Hospital, noted that school-based health centers are becoming more common in Ohio.
“Just there’s a large trend in the state right now,” he said. “A lot of school-based health centers [are] going up across the state.”
"We've provided a lot of technical support of helping districts and health care partners come together and build their partnerships," he said.
Moore detailed that each student health center is tailored to its community.
“Each one is so unique," Moore said. "The clinic here is so different compared to the clinics that we have in Columbus City Schools or Reynoldsburg City Schools."
"We consider ourselves not just a health clinic but a health resource," he said. "If the school nurse or teachers are seeing trends, we can come in with that education, bringing resources. It’s not just about the visits for us. We want to be a resource just for the district.”
Impact on student-athletes, future goals
Shelby School Board President Scott Rose praised the partnership and noted that the Shelby school-based center helps student-athletes get their physicals.
“Sometimes it’ll take you up to a week to get into somebody,” Rose said. “Being a former coach, you think, ‘Oh, you have your physicals,’ and then realize, ‘I forgot that.’ So now it’s like, ‘Hey, get that done.’ I like what you guys put together. It's really good.”
Its growing numbers reflect its impact.
“The parents when they come in, they’re just like, ‘We’re so thankful you’re here.’”
Shelby Schools Superintendent Michael Browning mentioned the Shelby center getting attention from within Ohio.
“People are very impressed with what Nationwide is doing here at Shelby City Schools,” he said.
