A Roadmap for Designing and Implementing a Hub-and-Spoke Virtual School-Based Health Clinic in Denver Colorado

School-Based Health Centers (SBHCs) have the capacity to overcome youth barriers to care. However, most schools do not have on-campus SBHCs. At Denver Health, a large safety net hospital with 19 SBHCs in Denver Public Schools, we developed a SBHC virtual care program (VCP) to link school nurses with SBHC providers to provide medical care and address gaps in care for children attending the DPS schools without an on-campus SBHC.

In establishing the SBHC VCP, several important steps emerged that others could consider when establishing similar programs. This manuscript will lay out helpful frameworks in the establishment of this SBHC VCP, including a theory of change model, a process map, and an appointment flow diagram.

Since August of 2021, this program has been rolled out to 58 schools and seen close to 900 visits. The development of a SBHC VCP provides a framework for other SBHCs nationwide.

Novel mechanisms such as the DPS SBHC VCP's framework can be leveraged within other SBHCs to expand SBHC reach to schools without an on-campus SBHC.