Dear Editor,

My name is Jhana Parikh, and I’m a junior at Enloe High School. There’s been a lot of talk recently about the SCOTUS decision on Affordable Care Act, which will no doubt help many people. However, there is one thing it won’t give Wake County’s 16,000 uninsured students: a primary care provider. Fortunately, the Affordable Care Act provides funding for school-based health centers (SBHCs), which accept ALL students and provide basic services like vaccinations, physicals, etc. As the capital county of North Carolina, Wake County should have at least one. But we don’t have any. And that needs to change. In my freshman year alone, more than 200 students failed to move on to the 10th grade. I personally know one who was held back because of a chronic illness that kept them out of school. SBHCs are proven to keep students in their seats longer because they can manage chronic illnesses. That student could have graduated had Enloe had a SBHC. The bottom line is, Wake County needs an SBHC. And now, with the Affordable Care Act, we have the means and opportunity to establish one. All we need is the support from the school board.

Jhana Parikh