By Michael Howell
Last week, on behalf of the board and staff at Marcus Daly Memorial Hospital, Dr. Frederick Ilgenfritz handed over a check for $9,800 to Hamilton School District Superintendent Duby Santee and School District Nurse Nancy Doyle, $6,500 of which will be used in the school district’s nursing program and $3,300 for scholarships for sports physicals.
Dr. Ilgenfritz said that it was part of the hospital’s commitment to support education and health.
“This donation is a logical and natural extension of that commitment,” he said. “When it comes to kids, that’s our future.”
Superintendent Santee expressed his appreciation. He said that most of the money would go to supplies but some would go to salaries. He said there is no legal requirement or legislative mandate to have a nurse at school so there is no state funding for it.
Right now the district is supporting one full time position with two part-time employees. They take care of about 1,600 kids in five different buildings. Santee said that the national standard is one nurse for every 400 students.
“There’s never a dull moment,” said Doyle. “Every day different problems emerge.” She said a lot of the job involved education of school staff as well as the kids. She teaches the students dental hygiene, the importance of a good diet and exercise, and the value of hand washing. The school nurse is on call for all five buildings but there is a first responder in each building as well to address emergency situations.
Sports physicals are scheduled for August 2 and 8 from 6 to 8:30 p.m. Dr. Ilgenfritz said that sports physicals are a good time to make early detection of problems that could become severe if unattended.