DATE: Tuesday, August 26, 1997              TAG: 9708260352

SECTION: LOCAL                   PAGE: B4   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: BY REBECCA MYERS CUTCHINS, STAFF WRITER 

DATELINE: PORTSMOUTH                        LENGTH:   54 lines

DONATION MAY PROVIDE A LIFELINE FOR PORTSMOUTH SCHOOL CLINIC AN ANONYMOUS BENEFACTOR OFFERED $25,000 SO THAT IT COULD STAY OPEN.

An anonymous businessman's $25,000 gift may keep a school-based clinic from closing today.

The donor called Phyllis Bricker, director of the Sunshine Health Center, after reading a newspaper story Saturday about School Superintendent Richard D. Trumble's decision to close the clinic.

Trumble had based his decision on the failure of the health center to raise the $74,000 needed to operate for the next year.

``It was absolutely just a bolt out of the blue,'' said Bricker, who was cleaning her house when the call came around 10:30 a.m. Saturday. ``I sat down on the edge of the bed with the phone in my hand and just shook.''

The anonymous benefactor offered to donate the exact amount Bricker says is needed to reach the fund-raising goal.

Within hours, Bricker had the check in hand.

Bricker said she was given the donation under the stipulation that she agrees to continue fund raising for the center. Also, the check must remain in her possession until she receives permission from the superintendent to keep the center open.

The school superintendent could not be reached for comment Monday.

The center, based at Hunt-Mapp Middle School and open to all students, offers athletic and school-entrance physicals and treatment for minor illnesses and simple injuries.

Much of this medical care has been provided for a nominal fee or completely free to children who otherwise may have gone without it, Bricker said.

Since its opening in April 1995, the center has been funded entirely through grant money, donations, Medicaid reimbursement and nominal fees charged for services.

Other than the school system providing the site for the clinic, no public money from the school system or the city is used to fund it, said Bricker.

The center was booked solid Monday and will be again today, nurse practitioner Anita Presson said.

Although the center was supposed to close today, some students in need of athletic, recreational or school-entrance physicals are being scheduled for Wednesday.

``We're attempting to get in touch with the people whose names we have on a waiting list to schedule them for appointments,'' Presson said.

Bricker and other employees were optimistic but still cautious.

``It's been such a roller-coaster ride, and we still have to wait for Dr. Trumble's decision, so there's still a lot of confusion,'' Presson said. ``We're once again in limbo, and we'll just have to wait it out.'' ILLUSTRATION: RICHARD L. DUNSTON/File photo

The Sunshine Health Center, based at Hunt-Mapp Middle School, offers

affordable medical services to Portsmouth schoolchildren. Here,

medical assistant Paula Darden conducts a hearing test on a student.

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