By: Beau Boughamer

The Middletown (Conn.) Press reported that Community Health Center Inc. is opening a fourth school-based location.

Run by the Middletown-based non-profit Community Health Center, the center is a one-stop shop for medical and behavioral health services that goes beyond what can be provided by school nurses. Students can refill prescriptions, be administered their school physical and even receive a dose of the H1N1 flu vaccine, all without leaving the building.

The result is reduced student absenteeism and fewer parents having to leave work to take their children to a doctor, according Community Health Center CEO Mark Masselli.

The centers also aim to serve students who do not have access to a family doctor or are underinsured. Jesse White-Frese, executive director of the Connecticut Association of School-based Health Centers, called them “a critical part of the safety net.”