St. Joseph Academy is the centerpiece of a tight-knit community that encompasses roughly two square miles on the south side of Milwaukee. When the brutal midwestern winter finally relents to warm spring days, many of the 600 students walk to and from campus each morning and afternoon.
“We’re definitely a neighborhood school,” St. Joseph Academy president and CEO Dr. Tabia Jones said with a smile. St. Joseph, which serves children from age six weeks through eighth grade, has long had policies and procedures to help its school families overcome cultural and language barriers.
The onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, however, brought new and frightening challenges.
“COVID meant homelessness, job loss, sickness and death,” Tabia said. “Seeing that really bothered my soul and it got me to thinking about what more we could do to take care of our community. Other schools have clinics, why couldn’t we have one too?”
Three years ago, St. Joseph Academy teamed with Sixteenth Street Health Care Centers to operate an on-site clinic at the school. Backed by financial support from the Felician Sisters and other public and private donors, the John and Betty Maliszewski Family Health Clinic opened in October 2024.
The clinic offers comprehensive primary care services, including:
- Three fully equipped examination rooms, a waiting room and a lab
- Treatment for common maladies such as sore throats and headaches
- Management of chronic conditions like asthma and diabetes
- Well-child checkups, sports physicals and vaccinations
- Blood tests and routine developmental, hearing and vision screenings
Jones said it was an easy decision to partner with Sixteenth Street Health Care Centers, which has provided medical and behavioral health care, physical therapy and other services supporting patient and family wellness for over 50 years. The organization is also affiliated with 32 in-school clinics in Milwaukee and Waukesha.
“Understanding the community’s needs is our priority,” said Dr. Emilia Arana, a pediatrician and director of school-based care for Sixteenth Street. “A healthy student is a better learner, and healthy students and healthier families are part of a healthier community.”
The St. Joseph clinic’s namesakes, John and Betty Maliszewski, were longtime supporters of children’s healthcare in Milwaukee. The couple held an annual golf outing to benefit St. Francis Hospital, which the Felicians established in 1956. After the hospital changed ownership, the golf outing became a fundraiser for St. Joseph Academy.
Although only one Felician Sister is active at St. Joseph, the order maintains a strong presence on campus in other ways.
“We’ve named each door at the clinic in honor of sisters who had significance in our lives,” Jones said, referring to †Sr. Mary Brendan Bogdan, †Sr. Mary Ramona Dombrowski and Sr. Mary Clarette Stryzewski.
“Our partnership with the sisters and, really, everyone at St. Joseph has been warm and welcoming,” said Caitlin West, a pediatric nurse practitioner with Sixteenth Street Health Care Center who works at the clinic.
The clinic operates on Tuesdays all day, and mornings on Wednesdays and Thursdays. Jones hopes to expand to five days a week and add more therapists and social workers. Due to space limitations, Jones is exploring the possibility of a mobile dental unit.
The cost of services is covered by Wisconsin Medicaid and, to varying degrees, by private insurance. If the patient has no insurance, a sliding-scale fee is a vital tool used by Sixteenth Street Health Care Center Clinic to ensure all patients have access to quality healthcare, regardless of their financial circumstances. No patient will be turned away due to an inability to pay.
Jones also emphasized that everyone in the community, regardless of age or any other factor, is welcome.
“We are a safe haven,” Jones said. “We don’t ask any questions. And it’s not just for our students. Their abuela (grandmother) can come in, their cousin can come in. If you live in the radius (of the neighborhood), you can come in, get your services and go.”
Jones recalled learning about the Felician Sisters’ mission during her orientation after being hired at St. Joseph Academy a decade ago. Ascension St. Francis Hospital is only two blocks away from St. Joseph. Yet, the modest, school-based clinic has some advantages over the massive healthcare center.
“Our clinic can improve the quality of care and reduce emergency room visits and hospital utilization,” Arana said. “School clinics have been shown to improve students’ health behaviors, including physical activity and consumption of healthy foods.”
West noted that the clinics’ impact is especially significant for students with chronic conditions.
“For the kids who weren’t regularly taking their asthma or diabetes medications, it’s been super helpful for them to have access to daily or weekly check-ins,” she said.
Having healthy students means fuller classrooms. Jones said daily attendance at St. Joseph during the cold and flu season typically was about 85 percent. Since the clinic opened last fall, the attendance rate has been 96 percent.
“I thought to myself, ‘Yep, this is where I’m supposed to be.’ Whenever I interact with the sisters, I notice how their quality of care and service is perfect, pristine and on point. I think what we’re doing now with the clinic means we are completely living the mission of what Blessed Angela and the Felicians are all about. I feel like we as laypeople are following in their footsteps.”
