The days of missing school to go to the doctor are over at Madison County Elementary. After years of hard work, the Gurley Community in Madison County have made a dream a reality by breaking ground on their new HEALS clinic.

As reported by WHNT News, HEALS is a non profit organization based out of Huntsville that provides medical care to children while they are at school. The goal is to give assistance to families who would normally struggle to provide health care for their kids. The building will be located at Madison County Elementary, but it will also serve school kids thought out the county.

Most patients there are on public insurance or no insurance at all, making it very challenging to get the care they need. Touching on the problems facing Madison County kids Executive Director of Heals Inc. Teek Patnaik said,

“They have the obstacle of having to cross the mountain to get to a lot of resources. And a lot of the resources that they do have are in neighboring municipalities, and the kids here don’t have access to it.”

One of the best features of this new clinic is the on site medical care that students will receive. And Patnaik said,

“The parents can drop their kids off at school and by the time they pick them up their child has had their medical check up, and the things that they need to be successful in that classroom. . . We want our kids in our classroom learning, and so this partnership is just going to help the whole student. Not just for health and dental, but also in the classroom as they excel academically. “

Heals has medical offices at several site’s throughout Northern Alabama. And there are three locations in Huntsville alone. To learn more about what HEALS is doing to help Alabama students check out their website.