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Kyle Ryan Taggart of Newburgh Wins Hudson Health Plan’s ‘Why I Appreciate My School Nurse’ Essay Competition


Hudson to Honor Kyle and Nurse Sandra Hill at Gardnertown Fundamental Magnet School on May 12th to Commemorate National School Nurse Day

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
May 12, 2010

(Tarrytown, NY)…Kyle Ryan Taggart, a fifth grader at Gardnertown Fundamental Magnet School in Newburgh, has won Hudson Health Plan’s “Why I Appreciate My School Nurse” essay competition for Newburgh School District’s elementary students. Hudson presented certificates to both Kyle and school nurse Sandra Hill of Coldenham on Wednesday, May 12th, National School Nurse Day, and treated Kyle’s class to a pizza lunch.

“I can always count on Nurse Hill to be there for me and take care of me when I am injured, sick or in pain,” Kyle wrote in his winning essay. “Nurses in a school or a hospital play a very important in our society.”

Indeed, with soaring rates of childhood diabetes and asthma, many students might not be able to attend school without on-site nurses to administer insulin pumps or asthma treatments. Notes Nurse Hill, who was born in Chile and arrived in the United States in 1998, “in poorer countries, there might not be the money for school nurses, and children who need medical attention for chronic illness during the day would often not have the opportunity to get an education.”

Hudson’s essay competition encourages children to write and calls attention to the significant role school nurses play in education. This year, more than 150 students in grades three through five wrote about their school nurses. Margaret Leonard, MS, RN-BC, FNP, Senior Vice President of Clinical Services at Hudson, explains, “Many people overlook the importance of health services in the school, but school nurses are often the first health professionals to notice health issues, such as vision problems or scoliosis. And in inner city schools, where many children come from homes with little economic security and limited access to health care, school nurses may be the only health professional the child sees on a regular basis.”

Nurse Hill, who has worked at Gardnertown Fundamental Magnet School for six years, says she goes out of her way to attend to students. “I am as caring and loving as I would be with my son. Some people warn me not to spoil them, but how can you spoil them by being nice and listening to them?” she asks.

Kyle certainly appreciates her attention. “Ms. Hill gives me whatever I need to recover, a band-aid, rubbing alcohol, or just plain care and kindness,” he writes.

Hudson Health Plan is a not-for-profit provider of free and low-cost health insurance to residents of Orange and five other counties in the lower Hudson Valley. In New York State, almost all children younger than 19 who are not currently covered by health insurance are eligible for Child Health Plus. To see if your child is eligible, call Hudson at 1-800-339-4557 or visit www.hudsonhealthplan.org.

About Hudson Health Plan

Founded in the mid-1980s by a coalition of community health centers, Hudson’s mission statement is "to promote and provide access to excellent health services for all people." The Tarrytown-based not-for-profit organization provides comprehensive medical and dental coverage to more than 100,000 members in New York’s Hudson Valley. Hudson has been driving health care innovation by developing technology to support clinical quality initiatives and to streamline the enrollment process for Medicaid Managed Care, Child Health Plus, and Family Health Plus. According to A Consumer’s Guide to Medicaid Managed Care in the Hudson Valley, it has earned the highest ratings in overall satisfaction among Medicaid Managed Care members in the Hudson Valley region every year since 2003.

Hudson Health Plan is the winner of the 2010 Platinum Award for Overall Case Management from the Case Management Society of America’s Case in Point Magazine; the Case Management Society of America 2007 Award for Excellence in Medication Adherence Management; the 2006 Poughkeepsie Journal Diversity in the Workplace Award; the 2005 Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Corporate Award for Diversity from the YWCA of White Plains and Central Westchester; the 2005 Advancements in Health Care Award from Hudson Valley Life and Hudson Valley Parent; and the 2003 Community Leadership Award from The New York Health Plan Association. Visit Hudson on the Web at www.hudsonhealthplan.org.

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