CHRISTUS St. Michael Health System gave $45,000 in grants to 24 area schools Tuesday for the Mobile Pediatric Asthma Program, which works to improve access to care for children who potentially have the chronic disease.
Chris Karam, president/CEO of CHRISTUS St. Michael Health System, thanked school representatives and nurses for making a difference in the lives of the children who receive the on-site services at their respective schools.
"I know that's what you do every day," he said. "You have allowed us into your school systems so we can have an impact.
"Five hundred and fifty children were treated last year through this program. Five hundred and fifty lives that will have a better life and more successful tomorrow."
CHRISTUS St. Michael Health System and UT Health Northeast launched the Mobile Pediatric Asthma Program in 2014 to work with the underserved pediatric population in 12 Texas counties in their respective service areas.
Area schools receiving grants include: Bloomburg, Clarksville, Malta, McLeod, Mount Vernon, Simms, Hooks, Maud, Linden-Kildare, Texarkana, Redwater, Red Lick, Queen City, Avery, Atlanta, Liberty-Eylau, Hughes Springs, New Boston, Daingerfield, Pleasant Grove, DeKalb, Jefferson, Pittsburg and Hubbard.
The program is one of only two in the state of Texas and offers asthma screenings and evaluations at no charge to participants.
It also provides services such as breathing tests, personal asthma management plans, parent and child education and follow-up care.
"Our vision here at CHRISTUS St. Michael is to have a healthier community," Karam said.
"I look around and I hear that two-thirds of our population are either obese or overweight for Texas and Arkansas, for Miller and Bowie County.
"We are higher in heart disease, cancer, diabetes, for hypertension and unfortunately, teen pregnancies and suicides.
"To me, that's disheartening. I want this to be the healthiest place in America to be.
"We have such great people and we want our communities to be healthy. To me, the way we do that is to start with the children, early on, so the next generation will be healthy."
The program has served 2,231 are students since 2014.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, more than 10 million school days are missed each year due to asthma, which is also the third-ranking cause of hospitalization among children younger than 15.
It has been declared a serious public health issue and is more prevalent among persons with a family income below the poverty level.
To determine if a child may need an asthma screening, parents should consider the following questions:
- Does active play leave your child with abnormal shortness of breath or coughing?
- Does your child cough often at night?
- Does your child use a rescue inhaler more than once a week?
Answering yes to any of these questions indicates a possible need for an evaluation.
For more information on the program or to make an appointment for a free screening, call 903-748-8573.