The Maryland Assembly is an advocacy organization that promotes school-based health care as a means to advance the belief that all Maryland children and youth have a basic fundamental right to access and receive comprehensive, quality health care.
School-based health care represents an essential strategy toward improving the lives of Maryland’s children and their families and optimizing their ability to become contributing members of society. School-based health care addresses the unique needs of children and youth and increases access to medical, mental, dental and/or other health related services.
MASBHC’s biggest initiatives include our participation in Hallways to Health through the School Based Health Alliance, our annual conference, and our advocacy work.
MASBHC Annual Susan Borinsky Outstanding School-Based Health Center Nurse Clinician Award
Awarded to a Maryland School Based Health Center (SBHC) Nurse Clinician who exemplifies Susan’s commitment to SBHCs, passionate service, and advocacy for the underserved.
2021 Inaugural Recipient Patricia Papa, RN, NP
Pat Papa is uniquely qualified to be the first recipient of the Annual Susan Borinsky Outstanding School-Based Health Center Nurse Clinician Award. She is one of the original nurse practitioners who opened Maryland’s first school-based health center program in Baltimore City in 1985. She supervised the program from 1989 until 1992 and hired Susan Borinsky. She also was a provider and an administrator in Prince Georges County’s school-based health program in 1999 through 2020 and now serves as a Catholic University provider in Montgomery County’s school-based health centers program.
PAST EVENTS & WEBINARS
The MASBHC 2021 virtual conference was a great success. Thank you to all who contributed to the success of our conference; our keynote speakers, workshop presenters, MASBHC Board members, vendors and especially all the participants!
A special thank you to the conference sponsors:
- Kaiser Permanente
- Medstar Family Choice
- Priority Partners
- Maryland Physicians Care
- United Health Care
The highlights of the conference included:
- Outstanding keynote addresses by:
- Michele Gay, M.Ed. Co-Founder and Executive Director of Safe and Sound Schools;
- Veda Johnson, MD, FAAP, Professor of Pediatrics, Emory University
- Amy Arnold, MS, CHES, HC, Director of Workforce Health Consulting, Kaiser Permanente.
- Rupali Limaye, PhD., MPH, MA, Professor, Bloomberg School of Public Health
- Greetings from MSDE by Mary Gable, Assistant State Superintendent Division of Academic Policy
- Greetings from MDH, Shelly Choo, Director, Maternal and Child Health Bureau
- The presenting of the Susan Borinsky SBHC Outstanding Nurse Clinician Award to Pat Papa, MSN, CRNP
- Greetings from the School Based Health Alliance President, Robert Boyd
- Legislative update by Robyn Elliott, Public Policy Partners
- The amazing MASBHC raffles!
School-Based Health Alliance and National Association of School Nurses
In May, the School-Based Health Alliance and the National Association of School Nurses released the following statement: “School Nursing & School-Based Centers Working Together for Student Success.”
Thank you to all school nurses, SBHC nurses and school nurses working in SBHCs.
To view click here
Announcing 2021 Landmark Legislative Session for MASBHC
To all the MASBHC and SBHC supporters:
We at the Maryland Assembly on School Based-Health Care are enormously proud to announce a historically successful legislative session for school-based health centers. Due to the outstanding work of the MASBHC policy committee and board members working with Public Policy Partners (Robyn Elliott and Rachael Faulkner); House and Senate members; and SBHC champions, two significant improvements in support of SBHCs and our students passed and are on the brink of being enacted! Note Senate Bill 278/House Bill 34 – submitted as an emergency bill – once signed by the Governor, will immediately go into effect.
- Senate Bill 278/House Bill 34 – State Department of Education and Maryland Department of Health – Maryland School-Based Health Center Standards – Telehealth o Requires the State Department of Education and the Maryland Department of Health to allow health care practitioner at an approved school-based health center to provide health care services through telehealth; and prohibits the State Department of Education and the Maryland Department of Health from establishing any further or additional requirements for a school-based health center to provide health care services through telehealth.
- Senate Bill 830/House Bill 1148 Secretary of Health – School–Based Health Centers – Guidelines and Administration of Grants o Requires the Secretary of Health, in consultation with the State Department of Education and other stakeholders, to develop guidelines to support the expansion of school-based health centers and requires transfer of the administration of school-based health center from the State Department of Education to the Maryland Department of Health Bureau of Maternal and Child Health on or before July 1, 2022
The Maryland General Assembly became much more familiar with SBHCs and heard various rounds of incredible testimony and support from the virtual floor. This is a huge step forward and we are ready to continue making big strides!!