Several years ago, the South Side Bee Branch School District created a wellness committee that quickly identified a need for health care services in this rural community. The wellness committee began looking for $120,000 in funds to renovate the superintendent’s former house and turn it into a school-based health center, to be called Hornet Health Care.
Bee Branch native Carol Raines, chief operating officer of the Boston Mountain Rural Health Center, whose administrative offices are in nearby Marshall, Ark, subsequently approached the committee. A federally qualified health center, the Boston Mountain group agreed to oversee and run the new Bee Branch facility.
In August 2013, Hornet Health Care proudly opened its doors, offering quality care for South Side Bee Branch students, faculty, staff, and the entire community.
The school-based health facility also serves as a resource center for wellness and prevention. All sports physicals, as well as Pre-K and kindergarten physicals, are offered at no charge to students. Hornet Health Care also staffs a full-time APN, LPN, receptionist, and lab services.
The South Side Bee Branch Wellness Committee is again working with Boston Mountain Rural Health Center researching grants to add dental and eye care to Hornet Health Care’s services. In addition, the committee hopes to move mental health services into Hornet Health care, centralizing all health care services and providing greater patient privacy and convenience for its various constituents. At the moment, school-based mental health is provided on the South Side Bee Branch campus.