Mission Statement
GASBHA advances the health and success of Georgia’s children through community partnerships to develop and support SBHCs.
Planning grants have been awarded to 68 sites in Georgia.
Planning grants have been awarded to 72 counties state-wide.
As of 2025, over 125 School-Based Health Centers are now operational in Georgia.
These centers provide enhanced access to healthcare for over 80,000 students, as well as their siblings and school staff.
Poverty is the single greatest threat to a child’s well-being. Nearly every adverse outcome for children across the life course is associated with poverty. Physical and mental health disparities, child abuse and neglect, academic underachievement, unemployment, and incarceration are all aligned with poor social and economic conditions. Education is a pathway out of poverty. Health and education are interconnected, and School-Based Health Centers (SBHCs) lie at the nexus of this connection.
SBHCs are primary care medical centers that blend medical care with preventive and psychosocial services. The overarching goal of SBHCs is to maximize academic success by addressing the physical, mental, and spiritual health of children and adolescents, increasing attendance and seat time, facilitating school connectedness and student validation, and fostering a will to learn. Academic success lifts children and adolescents out of poverty and increases the likelihood that they will grow up to be happy, healthy, and productive adults.
1994
Under the guidance of Drs. George Brumley and Veda Johnson, the first SBHC in Georgia, Whitefoord Elementary, was established by the Department of Pediatrics at Emory University in December of 1994. Drs. Brumley and Johnson worked together for over 8 years to expand upon the foundation of the Whitefoord Elementary SBHC and, later, the Sammye E. Coan Middle SBHC. For 19 years they were the only SBHCs in the state. They laid the foundation for the creation of subsequent SBHCs throughout Georgia.
2009
In 2009, PARTNERS for Equity in Child and Adolescent Health within the Department of Pediatrics at Emory was created by Drs. Veda Johnson and Terri McFadden. A priority for PARTNERS was to advance health equity by taking SBHCs to scale throughout the state.
2013
The first expansion occurred in 2013 with the creation of Tiger Creek SBHC in Tunnell Hill, Ga, Lake Forest SBHC in Roswell, Ga, and Turner Elementary SBHC in Albany, Ga. Over the next 11 years, we have facilitated the growth of SBHCs from 5 to 125 by providing technical assistance, guidance, and start-up funding.
2022
An unprecedented funding of $125 million in 2022 by Governor Kemp to expand SBHCs has led to the development of over 9 new centers within the past 18 months. An additional 24 centers are scheduled to open in the fall of 2025.
As a result of these SBHCs, approximately 80,000 students, in addition to their siblings and school staff, have increased access to healthcare. We have demonstrated that these centers increase seat time for students who utilize the centers. We have received testimonials from families that access to physical and mental health services has improved their child’s attendance and functioning. We have conducted studies that demonstrate that our SBHCs improve asthma management, increase preventive health services, and reduce costs to the Medicaid system.
Our goal is to continue to assist communities in developing SBHCs for the purpose of improving the health and well-being of students, leading to the advancement of academic excellence.
Goals
- To provide support and facilitate the development of school-based health centers throughout the State of Georgia
- To develop systems of care that incorporate students, families, schools and community
- To increase access to comprehensive primary care and behavioral health services for Georgia’s children
- To reduce health disparities
- To maximize academic achievement
- To facilitate community collaborations for broad-based support of school-based health centers.
- To decrease healthcare costs to the State’s health system.
- To advocate for the total well-being of Georgia’s children