HealthReach Partners with Gardiner Area High School to open School-Based Health Center

Gardiner – HealthReach Community Health Centers is partnering with MSAD #11 to open a health center at Gardiner Area High School beginning in the fall semester. Healthcare services will be offered to students enrolled in the Gardiner school district, as well as staff, throughout the school year.

Gardiner “Tiger” Health Center will offer primary and mental healthcare services. These services include routine checkups, sports physicals, diagnosis and treatment of minor illnesses, management of chronic conditions, labs, immunizations, and more. Services available at the SBHC will reflect the same services offered at any primary care office, providing an easy-to-access alternative to a traditional office for families and staff members in need of a convenient healthcare option. Locating health centers within schools helps communities by reducing costs for transportation, supporting working parents, and increasing the time each student can spend in the classroom — improving educational outcomes. A 501(c)(3) nonprofit, HealthReach’s mission is “to provide high-quality, affordable, patient-centered healthcare in the medically underserved communities of Central and Western Maine.”

All enrolled students and school staff are eligible to receive services through HealthReach’s SBHCs, regardless of whether they have insurance coverage. HealthReach provides sliding fee scales, medication cost support, and other pay support options to patients who qualify. Patients are not turned away based on their ability to pay. Additionally, HealthReach accepts Medicare, MaineCare, and most other major insurers. HealthReach will partner with the district to organize exam space to see patients, which will offer convenient, positive health and educational outcomes; but funding for clinical operations — including salaries, equipment, and supplies — is funded entirely by HealthReach Community Health Centers.

HealthReach Community Health Centers — founded in 1975 and headquartered in Waterville, Maine — is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit operating 11 community health centers and 2 school-based health centers with the mission of serving the otherwise medically underserved communities of Central and Western Maine. HealthReach delivers high-quality, accessible healthcare services, including general primary and preventative healthcare, behavioral healthcare, substance use disorder treatment, dental, and podiatric care services. To ensure access for everyone, HealthReach accepts Medicare, MaineCare, and major insurance providers, and there are no eligibility requirements to access care through HealthReach; all are welcome. An Affordable Care Program is available to both uninsured and underinsured people. Assistance is available for applications to programs that help with your healthcare and medication costs, including enrollment support for Maine’s Health Insurance Marketplace.

The above is issued in furtherance of HealthReach Community Health Centers’ federally funded health center project. In 2025, HealthReach received $4,436,654 in federal assistance, which is estimated as constituting 12% of project costs. Of total project costs for 2025, HealthReach estimates 88% financed with non-governmental sources.

The contents above are those of the author, and do not necessarily represent the official views of or an endorsement by, HRSA, DHHS, or the U.S. Government.