Episode 21: School-Based Healthcare Is Expanding. How Can Schools Sustain It? 

Read the Transcript

In recent years, more schools have expanded healthcare, offering everything from vaccines to mental health support. But many schools launched these services with one-time funding, like COVID relief dollars, and are now asking, “How do we sustain school-based healthcare?”

In this episode of Leading Voices, Lisa Eisenberg, Child & Youth Health Financing Project Director at WestEd, unpacks the complex intersection of education and healthcare finance systems and discusses how schools can “braid” funding streams, such as Medicaid with grants and community partnerships, to sustain these services.

School administrators will hear what the research says about the impact of school-based health centers on student attendance and outcomes and why partnerships with clinics and community providers are essential for sustainability.

If you’re thinking about sustaining school-based health, this conversation offers practical insights to guide your next steps.

How We Can Help

WestEd works with state and local leaders to improve students’ health and well-being by expanding sustainably funded school-based healthcare. Learn more about the support Lisa and her team provide. 

From the Episode

• Cost-Benefit Study of School Nursing Services (National Library of Medicine)
• School Attendance Following Receipt of Care From a School-Based Health Center (Journal of Adolescent Health)
• Listeners can connect with Lisa in person at the following conferences:
  • 2026 National School-Based Health Care Conference 
    June 23–25, 2026
    Washington, DC
  • 24th Annual National Alliance for Medicaid in Education (NAME) Conference 
    September 22–25, 2026
    Chicago, IL
• Additional publications co-authored by Lisa are linked below.