San Antonio ISD Partners with Hazel Health and Superior HealthPlan to Bring Physical and Mental Health Services into Schools
Date: 11/13/23
Virtual care will be available to 2,000 students in San Antonio.
San Antonio Independent School District (SAISD) announced a new partnership today with the nation’s leading school-based telehealth provider, Hazel Health, and Superior HealthPlan, a Texas-based managed care organization and subsidiary of Centene Corporation, to offer comprehensive health care services at three schools.
“We’re excited about partnering with Hazel Health to increase access to health care services for our students,” said Gloria Davis, Director of SAISD Student Health Services. “This partnership will provide children and youth with access to virtual physical and mental health care at no cost. We hope to encourage students’ optimal level of wellness and create an environment that promotes lifelong health.”
The program will be available to SAISD students at Wilson Elementary School, Whittier Middle School, and Edison High School, which have a combined population of about 2,000 students. Superior HealthPlan is jointly funding the program with SAISD.
Hazel Health currently provides virtual support in more than 150 school districts across 14 states, making it the country's largest telehealth partner for schools. With the consent of a student's family, the program helps immediately address medical needs such as rashes, lice, and pink eye.
For schools that are engaged in the program, Hazel Health is also on track to double access to support for mental well-being, and 70% of students who have received teletherapy have seen clinically significant improvement.
“Meeting the needs of the whole child is a community effort that requires innovation and collaboration, like the partnership between Superior HealthPlan, San Antonio ISD, and Hazel Health,” said Andrew Post, Chief Innovation Officer at Hazel Health. “This model exemplifies how cross-sector collaboration can transform outcomes through access to care that is grounded in prevention and early intervention. We’re proud to be part of a partnership that steps beyond the boundaries of traditional models to ensure schools are set up to serve all their students’ needs.”
As the largest Medicaid managed care organization in Texas, Superior provides health care to approximately two million individuals.
“We’re proud of this unique partnership with SAISD and Hazel Health because we know it works,” said Dr. Susan Mills, Sr. Vice President of Population Health and Clinical Operations at Superior HealthPlan. “This program means children will get unprecedented access to high-quality, local physical and mental health care, and we look forward to working together to support students and their families across San Antonio.”
To learn more about how Hazel Health operates in schools, visit https://www.hazel.co/districts-schools/hazel-in-schools.