Radford University mobile clinic offers free physicals to city school students ahead of new school year

RADFORD, Va. (WDBJ) - Radford University’s CARES Mobile Clinic partnered with Radford City Schools to provide free physicals to students ahead of the upcoming school year.

The clinic also offered vaccination updates and connections to healthcare resources during the event.

Melissa McDaniel, assistant superintendent of Radford City Schools, said some students are unable to start school or participate in sports on the first day due to missing physicals.

“We usually have a few that are unable to start school on the first day because they haven’t completed their physical — or even students that aren’t able to start in sports right away because they don’t have their sports physical,” McDaniel said.

Financial barriers, lack of transportation, limited appointment availability, and overall access to care are among the reasons physicals go uncompleted, according to the script.

Ken Keister, principal of McHarg Elementary, said the challenge is one he understands personally.

“I have my own kids as well as all the students here. And sometimes it’s hard to get in to get your physical and you have to wait,” Keister said.

Mike Wade, chair of the Radford Youth Adult Partnership, said healthcare access is a barrier for many families in the area.

“Access to health care is a huge barrier for a lot of folks, especially these days with the cost of everything being so high. Anytime that we can collaborate and bring down some of those barriers — that’s our duty to the community,” Wade said.

McDaniel said she hopes the clinic partnership with Radford City Schools will continue and grow.

“We hope, we’ve talked about maybe next year offering it two different times during the summer. And then we’re hoping throughout the year that we can also have this partnership to help our families gain access to health care,” McDaniel said.