10/27/2009 2:59:00 PM School district to hire health aide Swine Flu clinic scheduled for Saturday
Patrick Whitehurst/WGCN
An H1N1 vaccination clinic will be held Satudrady at the Williams Elementary-Middle School.
Ryan Williams Williams-Grand Canyon News Reporter
WILLIAMS - The 2009-2010 school year got off to a strong start. The problem is, so did this year's flu season.
As a result, the Williams Unified School District Governing Board approved at its Oct. 14 meeting the creation of a temporary health aide position. The additional assistance was requested by School Nurse Linda Cline to help keep students and teachers healthy in the face of new flu strains such as the H1N1 virus. Cline said cases of the flu have doubled this year as compared to last year.
"I've had a nurse's aide in the past, every year that I've been here. I cover both the elementary and the high school and especially at the beginning of the year there is a lot of paperwork. We do an immunization audit and hearing and vision screens. And we were hit pretty hard with the flu," Cline said. "My goal as the school nurse is to take care of the health of the students and the teachers. I do see some teachers, too. So that's what its all about. I'm trying to keep everybody healthy."
WUSD Superintendent Steve Hudgens said the health aide position was originally eliminated due to district wide budget cuts.
"The temporary position will be funded with grant money, not from the school district's budget," said Hudgens.
Cline, who is currently assisted by nursing students from Northern Arizona University, is actively looking for the right candidate for the position, but until funding is received, the position will remain vacant.
"The grant funding has to be here before I can start paying someone. It takes time, but we are working on that," Cline said. "Once the position is filled, it should get me into January, through the worst of the paperwork and the worst of the flu season."
An H1N1 Flu vaccination clinic is scheduled at the Williams Elementary-Middle School 9 a.m.-2 p.m. Saturday. The clinic will be administered by the Coconino County Health Department and will only be provided to high priority individuals. The vaccine will be made available to teaching staff and children with underlying health conditions such as asthma.
Appointments for the vaccination clinic can be scheduled by calling the CCHD Flu Information Line at (928) 679-7300.
Cindy Christman, manager of the Williams Health Care Center, said she anticipates receiving H1N1 vaccine at the health center sometime in the future but does not know when that will occur.
"At this point, we don't have any guess when that might happen," she said.
The Williams Health Care Center will offer another round of seasonal flu vaccines from 8:30 a.m.-12 p.m. today and tomorrow from 1:30-4:30 p.m. To make an appointment or for more information, contact WHCC at (928) 635-4441.
