Webberville welcomes new clinic at its doorstep

By Susan Vela
Lansing State Journal

Originally Published June 23, 2006

WEBBERVILLE - Dr. Roger Kilbourn paced his new digs - office, exam rooms, and lab and triage areas.

"We're ready to go," the 36-year-old doctor said this week, a stethoscope hanging around his neck.

He looked forward to treating his first patients at Webberville Primary Care, a school-initiated clinic that opened Monday.

Webberville, with about 1,500 residents, has gone several years without a family practitioner. And both school officials and medical experts consider the new clinic an indispensable part of what could be the most visionary school-linked health center in Michigan.

Debbie Brinson of the School-Community Health Alliance of Michigan called Webberville "forward thinking" because of its successful 2004 bond proposal and the $8.5 million, 50,000-square-foot Spartan Center it built, which houses the clinic.

"This is just the next stage in looking at how to support healthy communities," said Brinson, also an Eaton Rapids school board member.

"Here's a school board that really looked at the community when they put their bond together."

The Spartan Center technically will function as a community center when it officially opens July 10.

Not just a clinic

With an emphasis on health, the center could become a model for others around the state.

The facility has whirlpools for injured athletes, an indoor track suspended over basketball courts, mirrored rooms for cheerleading practice, locker rooms for entire families, other athletic facilities and space for physical therapists.

And don't forget the clinic managed by Capital Internal Medicine Associates of Lansing.

Webberville's hope is that the center, which will charge fees, will keep people healthy from cradle to grave.

Parents interested in the clinic handling medical services ranging from sports physicals to immunizations can find a consent form on the district's Web site.

The clinic will accept Medicare, Medicaid and several health insurance and payment plans.

"The whole thing is going to be great for the community," said 72-year-old Auburn Perkins, who regularly chats about the Spartan Center with friends at Angel's Cafe.

The men have been looking forward to having a doctor in town, especially for minor emergencies.

Most drive to Okemos or to Lansing for routine health care.

Developing relationships

Board member Kathleen Westbrook stopped by the new clinic Monday and talked about how her husband, John, recently broke a hand while landscaping.

She said she couldn't resist asking him whether he really needed to go see a doctor right away.

"It's not just that it's inconvenient," she said. "You don't know who you're going to see. You're real hesitant to do that if it's not truly necessary."

Although the patient load was light this week, Webberville Primary Care "is a family practitioner's dream," said Kilbourn, who just finished a residency at Ingham Regional Medical Center.

"You're able to develop a relationship with people in the community. You have the small practice. (And) they really want you."

Community concept

A group of Webberville parents, students, athletic boosters and other community members began conceptualizing a health-oriented community center about five years ago.

Now, "what I'm after is to create a model that can hopefully be replicated by other districts," Superintendent William Skilling said.

According to the School-Community Health Alliance of Michigan, there are about 100 school-linked health centers already in Michigan.

They include the 11-year-old Otto Community Health Center, which is housed at Lansing's Otto Middle School. Its initiator, the Ingham County Health Department, oversees the site, which had 6,000 visits in the last fiscal year.

"It started with impetus from the community and parents advocating for this to happen," said Kathy Way, the center's administrator.

"That has been the strength of a site like this."

Idea catching on

It'll be some time before the full potential of Webberville's Spartan Center is realized. Yet Swartz Creek resident Tom MacGillivray was impressed when he attended a recent open house.

He's had a couple of knee surgeries because of rough play on the football field and would love to see Swartz Creek schools open a health center similar to Webberville's.

"It looks like they've done it right," said MacGillivray, who sits on Swartz Creek Community Schools' wellness committee.