Jane Pauley speaks at the ribbon cutting for The Jane Pauley Community Health Center

“I tell people that the letter ‘I’ in Indianapolis stands for ‘innovation.’ This may look like a small idea, but it’s a big idea.”

The big idea to which Jane Pauley refers is the eastside Indianapolis health center that bears her name. Pauley, an eastside native best known as an anchor for NBC’s “Today” and “Dateline” programs, visited Indianapolis to help cut the ribbon and open The Jane Pauley Community Health Center, operated by Community Health Network in space donated by the Metropolitan School District of Warren Township.

“This is the story of a partnership of a group of people who recognized that there’s a need for health care,” Bryan Mills, Community’s president and CEO, told the crowd of more than 200 who gathered September 23 for the center’s ribbon-cutting ceremony. “This is an example of what we believe others can do; it’s something we hope people can replicate.”

The model to which Pauley and Mills refer is a clinic that provides holistic care—including wellness, medical, mental health, dental and social services—regardless of the patient’s ability to pay. Though it’s located within Warren Township’s Renaissance School, it serves not only students and their families but the entire eastside community. “This is the nexus of the two things most important to me: health care for underserved people, and public education,” Pauley told the gathering.

“The focus of this community health center is primary health care,” Robin Ledyard, M.D., president of Community Hospital East and one of the center’s creators, told ribbon-cutting attendees. “Primary health care meets about 80 percent of people’s needs. This is access for the public where they need it, not in the ER, where that care can become confusing and expensive.”

Jane Pauley and children prepare to cut the ribbon in front of The Jane Pauley Community Health Center

Also speaking was Jeff Bennett, Warren Township trustee. He hailed the center’s progressive integration of health services, and added that it also will provide access to a wide range of social services, including food stamps and heating assistance. “We want this to be a front door to getting these services.”

Peggy Hinckley, Ph.D., superintendent of the Metropolitan School District of Warren Township, is a strong believer in the importance of meeting the health care needs of students. “Warren Township is very focused on closing the achievement gap,” she says. “Children are better learners and can focus on their work when they feel well.”

Indeed, says Pauley, good health care services are essential just to keep kids in school learning, rather than at home sick. As an example, she points to asthma as one of the most common chronic ailments facing children. Citing Children’s Health Fund studies, Pauley says a child getting regular treatment for asthma misses an average of seven fewer days of school each year than a child whose asthma is not well controlled. Plus, “for every child who gets proper treatment for chronic asthma, $4,500 is saved annually.”

Health care costs are a major stressor for many families, observes Art Bouvier, who owns the Papa Roux restaurant two miles south of the center and serves on the center’s advisory board. As a small-business owner, he’s been unable to get adequate insurance for his family, so he plans to take them to the center for their primary health care needs. For those who are uninsured or underinsured, “you spend a lot of time wondering how bad is bad enough to get medical attention.”

At the ribbon cutting, Indianapolis Mayor Greg Ballard praised the spirit of partnership that is behind this kind of project. “We are all extremely fortunate to be in a city in which great generosity toward each other is the norm,” he says, calling the center “a place of hope.”

Mills said it offers an example of what people in the community can do when they decide to solve a problem rather than waiting for someone else to provide the solution. “This is us saying, ‘we can do this on our own.’”

Added Dr. Hinckley, “See what happens when well-intentioned people with caring hearts come together with an idea?”

For Pauley, joining in the partnership offers the chance to draw attention to the needs of the underserved, as well as cutting-edge ways to meet those needs. As for having her name attached to a project that tackles an issue so important to her—“there probably hasn’t been a bigger honor afforded me in my lifetime.”

The 1,600-square-foot center is housed in a renovated space at the Renaissance School at 8931 East 30th Street in Indianapolis.  The space was donated by Warren Township Schools, and Community Health Network made a capital commitment of $350,000 to renovate the space. The Community Health Network Foundation continues to leverage its community relationships to facilitate the project and provide long-term philanthropical support.

The center offers primary health care services, including preventive and annual exams; well child care; acute care; chronic disease management; sports physicals, basic gynecological procedures (breast exams, pap smears), minor skin procedures and other services. Patients benefit from a completely electronic medical record system (GE Centricity EMR), two bi-lingual staff members (Spanish-English) and state-of-the-art medical equipment. The center has five exam rooms. In addition to providing access to health care for a medically underserved population, the center focuses on the management of chronic diseases, such as diabetes, cardiac disease and depression. Laboratory and hospital services are available through the Community system.

Community Health Network is providing a medical director, physician assistant, nurse practitioner, two medical assistants, a psychologist and social worker to serve patients. In addition, the center is a resource location for social services.  Medical services are delivered regardless of ability to pay, and the cost of care is based on a sliding fee scale and family income.

The center will also serve as a learning laboratory for best practices in the delivery of health care, with the goal of replicating this model in other community health centers around the country.

“My name outside the clinic might be the first thing a person would see,” said Pauley, “but it’s the last thing a patient or parent or child will be thinking about, and certainly the least significant part of this new eastside clinic at the Renaissance school.  But I’m thrilled and honored to be a part of it.”

Renaissance School is located in a part of Indianapolis that is medically underserved. Locating the center inside a school gives local residents a familiar, comfortable place to seek care.

“Community Health Network is honored to work with Jane Pauley and the Warren Township schools on such a meaningful project that benefits the local community,” said Bryan Mills, president and CEO of the network. “Our mission is to provide access to health care and improve the health of area residents. This center offers a unique integration of services under one roof—at a convenient location for families.”

“Healthy students are more focused on their learning, enabling them to achieve at higher levels,” said Dr. Peggy Hinckley, superintendent, MSD of Warren Township.  “When families are healthy, they can focus their energy on supporting their student’s academic goals.”

Community Health Network has partnered with Warren Township schools since 1998, when Community opened its first school-based clinic at Warren Central High School.  Community now operates several school-based clinics in the area.
Though the Jane Pauley Community Health Center is located inside a school, it is not considered a school-based clinic-instead, it is simply a community health center.

Once fully operational, hours for the Jane Pauley Community Health Center will be 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Monday, Wednesday and Friday; and 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Tuesday and Thursday.

Pauley, a 1968 graduate of Warren Central High School, will be honored for her role in the project during an evening dinner celebration.

Eastside Indianapolis native and former NBC news anchor (TODAY/Dateline) Jane Pauley has lent her name to a unique collaboration between Community Health Network and the Metropolitan School District of Warren Township. The Jane Pauley Community Health Center, which will be housed at the Renaissance School at 30^th Street and Post Road, will serve the local community, including students and their families, regardless of insurance or income, with an emphasis on integrating medical, dental and behavioral health. Pauley, who was diagnosed with bipolar disorder in 2001, insisted that the center address all aspects of wellness.

“Much of the health reform debate in this country is about health insurance, but we also need to reform how and where care is delivered,” said Pauley, a 1968 Warren Central High School graduate. “Because it’s in a school, this health center puts care close to home in a place that’s familiar, comfortable and convenient for people, including those who are underserved by traditional health care models. I couldn’t be prouder to have my name associated with a neighborhood clinic in a neighborhood that I will always think of as home.”

The Jane Pauley Community Health Center will offer primary health care services, including preventive and annual exams; well child care; acute care; chronic disease management; and certain procedures. Community Health Network will provide a nurse practitioner, a family physician and a psychologist to serve patients and has made a capital commitment of $350,000 to renovate the center’s space at the school. The space was donated by Warren Township Schools. The Community Health Network Foundation continues to leverage its community relationships to facilitate the project and provide long-term philanthropical support.

Services will be delivered regardless of ability to pay, and the cost of care will be based on a sliding fee scale and family income. In addition to providing access to health care for a medically underserved population, the center will focus on the management of chronic diseases, such as diabetes, cardiac disease and depression. Laboratory and hospital services will be available through the Community system.

The center will also serve as a learning laboratory for best practices in the delivery of health care, with the goal of replicating this model in other community health centers around the country.

“Overall positive health outcomes require attention to physical, behavioral and dental health,” said Gina Eckart, director, Indiana Division of Mental Health and Addiction. “By breaking down the care delivery silos between these specialists, the Jane Pauley Community Health Center will stand as a national example of how integrating the health care delivery system is critical to a patient’s complete well-being and the success of our country’s transformation of health policy.”

Warren Township schools and Community Health Network have long been partners in school-based health care; in 1998, Community Health Network opened its first school-based clinic at Warren Central High School. “The Jane Pauley Community Health Center is another example of Warren’s community outreach,” said Dr. Peggy Hinckley, superintendent of Warren Township schools. “We are excited about the opportunity to collaborate with Community to add health services for our underserved citizens and do so in a school setting.”

“There are a lot of ideas and discussion going on about how we can achieve health care reform, but one thing nearly everyone can agree on is that too many people go without access to quality, affordable health care—including tens of thousands of people in Indianapolis,” said Congressman André Carson, who represents Indiana’s seventh congressional district where the center will be located. “Thankfully, families and children on the east side, who simply have gone without much-needed medical care, will find new hope at the JanePauleyCommunityHealthCenter.”

Pauley will be in Indianapolis in September for a ribbon-cutting and dinner to celebrate the center.

To become a supporter of The Jane Pauley Community Health Center, please contact the Community Health Network Foundation at 317-355-GIVE, or visit eCommunity.org.