Study to determine if Muskegon County needs teen health clinic

Hackley Community Care Center received a $50,000 state grant to study whether a clinic focused on children and adolescents should be built in the Muskegon area.

According to excerpts of the story:

Hackley Community Care, a federally-chartered health clinic for the impoverished and uninsured, received a $50,000 state grant to study whether a child and adolescent clinic should be built in the Muskegon area. Local officials also will decide where a possible clinic should be located -- in a school or on nonschool property.

The Michigan Department of Community Health has awarded grants ranging from $50,000 to $175,000 to 17 communities to bolster health care services for uninsured children and other adolescents between the ages of 5 and 21.

Local health officials said there is an urgent need for a teen health clinic in Muskegon County, where the incidence of sexually transmitted diseases among teens has skyrocketed over the past decade, according to county data.

Ken Kraus, director of the Muskegon County Health Department, said a teen health clinic could help health officials do a better job of combating teen pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases.

Baldwin Family Health Care received a $175,000 grant to provide White Cloud children and adolescents with primary medical care by August. The grant will provide a nurse practitioner, physician's assistant or physician for at least 24 hours per week in the White Cloud school district.

The clinics are aimed at providing health care for children whose families lack health insurance. The range of services provided can include family planning, mental health counseling, health screening, health education and group sessions.

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