GALLIA COUNTY, Ohio (WOWK) – Gallia County Governor Mike DeWine announced at a press conference Monday on the Gallia Academy High School campus that two brand new health and wellness clinics will be opening in Gallia County.
Gallipolis City Schools Superintendent Gary Wright said Gallia Academy is one of the potential locations for the clinic. We provide primary care, behavioral, dental, vision, and more. Services will be available to all students and their families in the Gallipolis city area.
Gallipolis has five public schools serving about 2,000 students, and construction of the clinic will cost about $2.6 million.
Additionally, the Gallia County Regional School District, which has about 2,000 students attending nine public schools, will build its own clinic for the district.
These clinics are part of the Appalachian Child Health Initiative, which provides more than $64 million to build school-based clinics in 32 Appalachian counties in Ohio.
DeWine said the clinic will keep students healthy and, in turn, able to stay in the classroom.
“If a third grader needs glasses, we get them glasses. They can see the blackboard. They can read,” DeWine said. “There are children who cannot read because they have difficulty seeing. They cannot see because they are blind and because they do not have glasses. I hope that you will live your life to the fullest.”
DeWine also said he expects the clinic to open within the next few years.
