First-of-its-kind partnership transforms 30 schools into trusted healthcare access points, addressing critical gaps affecting 120 million Americans.
OnMed and 22Beacon today announced a strategic partnership to launch the Public Charter School Health Equity Initiative, bringing the OnMed CareStation™ to 30 charter schools across the country. This groundbreaking pilot transforms schools into trusted healthcare access points, removing barriers that keep 120 million Americans, especially children, from receiving timely medical care.
Six years into the post-pandemic landscape, healthcare access remains a critical challenge, with 80% of U.S. counties experiencing healthcare deserts and children disproportionately impacted. The OnMed and 22Beacon partnership is solving this crisis by placing comprehensive healthcare services directly in schools where students, families, and communities already gather. It addresses healthcare access while simultaneously improving educational outcomes, workforce health, and community wellbeing.
"22Beacon's portfolio represents over $1 billion in charter school real estate across 31 states," said Alan Washington, president and CEO of 22Beacon. "As a national nonprofit, our existing infrastructure eliminates typical barriers to implementation, allowing us to move quickly to serve communities that need healthcare access most urgently."
The OnMed CareStation™ is an 8x10 foot healthcare access infrastructure solution that offers personalized, patient-first healthcare to communities nationwide from a "Clinic-in-a-Box." Through this partnership, they will be available to students during the school day, with extended hours for families and community members, supporting both insured and uninsured patients. All medical information is protected with HIPAA-compliant privacy standards, and parents maintain full control over their children's healthcare decisions.
"Schools are already trusted anchors in communities," said Karthik Ganesh, CEO of OnMed. "This partnership empowers them to address one of the biggest barriers to student success, which is healthcare access. By combining 22Beacon's real estate infrastructure with OnMed's proven CareStation technology, we're creating a scalable model that brings care directly to those who need it most."
The partnership will roll out in two phases: a 30-school pilot across the 22Beacon portfolio network, followed by a national offering with the ultimate goal of establishing this model as a standard for charter schools using proven impact data. The funding model leverages public-private partnerships, grants, and philanthropy, making it cost-free to schools while ensuring sustainability.
For more information about the Public Charter School Health Equity Initiative, visit www.22beacon.org/onmed.
This partnership arrives as chronic absenteeism has emerged as one of the clearest signs of a healthcare access gap hiding in plain sight. Nationally, an estimated 26-28% of U.S. students are chronically absent, and 67% cite illness as the primary reason. Chronically absent students are seven times more likely to drop out, and a single dropout costs taxpayers an estimated $292,000 over their lifetime.
By placing healthcare directly inside schools, where students, families, and staff already are, OnMed and 22Beacon are treating illness-driven absenteeism as what it is: an access problem, not an attendance problem. As more charter networks and public school systems look for ways to keep kids healthy and in class, this 30-school pilot offers an early model for what school-based healthcare access can look like at scale.
For complete details, including all executive statements, read the full press release on Business Wire.
OnMed is transforming how the world accesses healthcare. With its patented OnMed CareStation™, an 8×10 foot "Clinic-in-a-Box," OnMed delivers comprehensive, immediate care wherever people live, work, and learn. The OnMed CareStation is a tech-enabled, AI-powered, and human-delivered platform that blends the comprehensiveness of traditional in-person care with the rapid scalability of telemedicine. Each CareStation serves as a local access point within a scalable, connected grid that delivers everyday healthcare at scale.
Powered by public-private partnerships across insurers, healthcare providers, governments, employers, and educational institutions, OnMed is redefining healthcare access, closing critical gaps, restoring trust, and strengthening the health and economic resilience of communities everywhere. Learn more at www.onmed.com.
22Beacon is a national nonprofit organization dedicated to breaking barriers in public education by expanding access to high-quality facilities for schools and communities that need them most. Through innovative financing solutions, strategic partnerships, and deep expertise in facilities development, 22Beacon helps schools create and sustain inspiring learning environments where students can thrive. Since its founding, 22Beacon has supported hundreds of schools in opening their doors and serving families with excellence and equity. Visit www.22beacon.org to learn more.
Interested in bringing OnMed to your school district or charter network? Talk with OnMed →
Follow along as we continue to redefine the healthcare landscape and bring the OnMed CareStation to communities across the U.S.
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