By Tim Cherry
Staff writer
Thursday, August 16, 2012
Fort Belvoir leadership helped at-risk children receive mandatory school physicals during Fairfax County’s tenth annual Back-to-School Physical Clinic Aug. 11 in the South County Health Center.
Garrison Command Sgt. Maj. Chester Grelock and the Garrison Public Affairs Office assisted an additional 80 civilian volunteers with providing free examinations for underprivileged families and families new to the area.
Grelock, PAO reps and community volunteers escorted children through six testing stations. Children received eye exams, hearing tests and immunizations among other tests.
“We certainly like doing it,” Grelock said. “It’s a good partnership with the community.”
The back-to-school physicals program takes place in Fairfax, Springfield and Falls Church. Retired social worker Bonnie Lilley is the program’s chairperson. She helped start the original clinic in Springfield, Va., in 2000, and in 2002 Lilley started the program in the Mount Vernon, Fairfax County area.
This year’s event was sponsored by the Mount Vernon-Lee Chamber of Commerce, Molina Healthcare, Inova Mount Vernon Hospital, Fairfax County Health Department and INOVA Partnership for Healthier Kids.
The program’s purpose is to help working parents, who can’t afford medical insurance or haven’t found a doctor, to get their children eligible for school on time.
Children who don’t receive physicals before the school year begins can miss out on weeks of school according to Grelock.
“The goal is to have them start on time,” he said.
One of the stations at the event was Partnership for Healthier Kids. This is an INOVA Health System initiative to help uninsured families find viable health-care options.
Jill Christiansen, program manager for the PHK, said representatives from the program gathered information from the families at the event, and will help them find health care through programs such as Medicaid and Virginia’s children health insurance program, FAMIS, or Family Access to Medical Insurance.
“They need to know where they can go, instead of going to the emergency room everyday,” said Kay Fike, event coordinator.
Children received bicycle helmets, books and backpacks full of age-specific school supplies at the end of the physical.
Wanda Rixon, Molina Healthcare of Virginia/Community Health Care Network, director of operations, called this the fun part for kids.
Molina provided the backpacks directly after the immunizations shots. Rixon said several children entered the station with sad faces after receiving needle shots, but they all left the station happy after strapping on a new backpack.
“It’s fantastic,” Rixon said of the event. “You feel wonderful when you realize the help you’re providing your community.”
Fort Belvoir Headquarters Battalion Commander Lt. Col. Brian Zarchin and Command Sgt. Maj. Carolyn Reynolds received a Back-to-School Physical Clinic briefing during the event.
The briefing served as an introduction to the clinic for Zarchin and Reynolds who respectively assumed command and responsibility during the summer. Fike and Lilley walked the leaders through the stations and explained the benefits of the program. Zarchin and Reynolds took note of the diverse backgrounds of the families whose ethnicities ranged from Middle Eastern to Lithuanian. Zarchin believes the multilingual background of some of Belvoir’s Soldiers could help with communication.
The two leaders plan on Belvoir Soldiers having a bigger impact on the event next year.
“We’ll be here volunteering,” Zarchin said. “It’s such a convenience to the Families.”
