Clinic opens inside La Crosse elementary school

Nonprofit clinic is staffed by volunteers, treats students

If it seems a little unusual to have a free medical clinic inside an elementary school, it’s possibly because it is.

They’re calling it Your Northside Neighborhood Clinic, and it’s now open inside La Crosse’s new Northside Elementary School.

An idea that’s not typical by a long shot, according to president of the nonprofit clinic, Kelly Mayer, who says it is the first of its kind. 

Mayer says that a small clinic inside the Northside Elementary was part of the original plans for the building. It’s staffed by volunteers and they treat things like cuts, burns and scrapes, as well as doing some wellness checks and other things.

The clinic treats students at the school for now, “so that they’re happy and healthy and ready to learn,” Mayer said.

But Mayer added that will eventually be expanded to parents at the school, as well as others in the community.