District partners with clinic to open school health center

By DELANEY TARR delaney@appenmedia.com

FORSYTH COUNTY, Ga. — Forsyth County Schools and Georgia Highlands Medical Services hosted a ribbon-cutting for the county’s first school-based health center at Cumming Elementary School March 9.

The school-based health center will provide on-site medical and mental health services to students and school staff. It will be led by nurse practitioner Ashley Ford and licensed professional counselor Michele Ruiz.

Cumming Elementary school nurse Kimberly Crockett will manage communication between the school and the clinic. Students will still visit the nurse first, then attend the health center on her recommendation.

At the March 9 ceremony, representatives from Cumming Elementary School, Georgia Highlands Medical Services and Forsyth County Schools gathered to talk about the process of creating the school-based health center.

See HEALTH, Page 10

The opening marked the completion of phase one of the Furkids Capital Campaign, which funded the purchase of the property, two outbuildings for cat intake and an isolation building for sick cats, as well as other projects.

The organization is composed of a cat shelter; a veterinary clinic; care and intake buildings; and the Sadie’s Place dog shelter on Union Hill Road.

In the second phase of the capital campaign, the shelter is raising money for new free-standing dog and cat shelters, a medical facility and to repurpose the current dog shelter for intake and quarantine for its TransFur program, which sends animals to no-kill shelters with high demand for adoption.

“Our goal is to make Shiloh Gardens at Furkids unique among animal rescue and shelter organizations,” Furkids founder and CEO

See ANIMALS, Page 11