Health Center FAQs

The J. Brooks Hoffman ’36 Health Center is located between the Romano Dining Hall and the Chiang Center for Innovation and Collaboration.

When school is in session, nursing staff are available 24 hours per day, seven days per week.  A treatment and evaluation area is available for walk-ins daily from 7:30 a.m. to 10:45 p.m. and overnight or temporary admissions stay in the 16-bed inpatient unit.

The Health Center provides nursing care (during the day and overnight, if needed), management of minor illness and injuries, first aid, gynecology services, sexual health counseling, drug and alcohol testing, wellness information, assistance with arranging outside specialist appointments, orthopedic consultation with the school orthopedist, and assistance with arranging mental health services.

When school is in session, a full staff of registered nurses and licensed practical nurses skilled in adolescent health needs are working around the clock. Appointments can be scheduled with the school physician Jeffrey Merkle, MD.

Please click here to access the Magnus Health Forms.

Before each academic year begins, parents/guardians must complete health forms for their child. Please note that we accept only Blair physical forms, which can be printed from Magnus and brought to your healthcare provider. All forms in Magnus must be completed prior to August 1.

The state of New Jersey requires that a nine-question health history update be completed prior to the start of every sporting season, regardless of whether your child participates in a team sport or activity. You can locate the fall, winter and spring “Health History Update” forms in Magnus.

Boarding students who are too ill to attend classes must report to the Health Center fully dressed before their first obligation. No class excuses will be given by the Health Center to students who fail to report before classes begin. 

If a day student becomes ill at school, they are to report to the Health Center and our staff will contact the parent/guardian, who is expected to pick up or arrange for someone else to pick up their child.

Parents of day students are expected to arrange medical care for their child off campus.

Medical appointments should be scheduled either during breaks or after academic obligations.

When illness keeps a student away from school, students are expected to report to the Health Center when they return to campus. All instructions from a healthcare provider must be provided to the Health Center in writing (i.e., activity restrictions, medications, etc).

When visiting your healthcare provider, please print and bring along this form.

If you experienced COVID-19 symptoms, stay home and get tested. If positive your child must contact the Health Center for up to date isolation guidelines.

When picking your child up from campus, it is the parent’s responsibility to sign your child in and out of the Health Center. All instructions received during the visit from a healthcare provider must be in writing (i.e., activity restrictions, medications, etc).

Please have your healthcare provider fill out this form.

If your child is a boarding student and requires medical services off campus, the Health Center will arrange for your child to be transported to the appointment by a paid driver. Students are not accompanied at off-campus appointments by a Blair faculty or staff member.

The driver will escort your child into the reception/waiting room of the facility. The driver will not be present when your child is seeing the provider or having a test/procedure.

Information from the appointment is communicated to the Health Center staff in writing from the treating location/provider. Parents are invited to call a provider/location where their child has been treated to speak directly with the treating provider if they wish.

The driver will then escort the student back to the nurse’s station at the Health Center on campus. The Health Center staff will contact parents to communicate information about the appointment.

Parents are always encouraged to obtain routine healthcare for their child during the summer or over breaks and may always opt to take their child to an appointment themselves.

Medications are to be stored at the Health Center. Students may not have prescription or over-the-counter medications in their rooms. The only exceptions are “rescue inhalers” for asthma, EpiPens, insulin, multivitamins and birth control pills, for which the student’s healthcare provider must complete and file a medical order form with the Health Center.

To order medication, please print and submit this form.

Stimulant medication is often used to treat ADHD. Some commonly prescribed stimulants include Vyvanse, Concerta and Ritalin. “Long-acting” doses of stimulants are dispensed in the Health Center from 7 a.m. to 11 a.m. and will not be dispensed later in the day without a written order from the student’s healthcare provider specifying the time the dose may be dispensed. Short-acting stimulants (afternoon “booster doses”) must be dispensed before 6:30 p.m.

New Jersey law requires prescriptions for refills of stimulant medications to either be electronically submitted directly to the pharmacy through authorized prescription systems, or with a written prescription. Phone requests and faxed/scanned copies of prescriptions for stimulants are not acceptable for refills in New Jersey. Please make plans with your prescriber to have prescriptions delivered in a New Jersey-authorized manner.

Parents who wish stimulants to be optional for non-class days must speak with the prescriber and ask them to provide a medication order sheet specifying that medication is not required daily to the Health Center.

During the academic year, the Health Center will obtain both over-the-counter and prescription medications for your child from North Warren Pharmacy, which is located a few miles from campus and has had a long-term relationship with Blair Academy. Please set up your account before your child arrives at school by calling (908) 362-5156 or by mailing your information to 155 Route 94 North, Blairstown, NJ 07825. The pharmacy will not dispense any medication without prior payment.

Since the start of the 2015-2016 school year, the New Jersey Scholastic Student-Athlete Safety Act has required healthcare providers who perform mandatory annual physical exams for student-athletes in grades six through 12 to complete the Student-Athlete Cardiac Assessment professional development module (PD module). In order to comply with this requirement, healthcare providers must verify completion of the PD module by signing a certificate of completion.   

When you schedule your child’s sports physical, please verify that the healthcare provider who will perform the exam has completed the PD module and signed the certificate of completion. (Simply ask if the healthcare provider has completed the Student-Athlete Cardiac Assessment professional development module and, if you receive an affirmative answer, you are all set; Blair Academy does not require submission the certificate of completion). If the healthcare provider has not completed the PD module, your child’s participation on an athletic team may be delayed until he or she can be examined by a provider who has completed the module.

Feel free to bring this communication to your healthcare provider at the time of your child’s physical so that he or she is aware of the regulations we must follow in order for our students to meet eligibility requirements for participation in sports.

For your convenience, Riverside Urgent Care in nearby Hackettstown offers sports physicals performed by healthcare providers who have completed the PD module. The physicals are available for a fee of $30 per student, and no appointment is necessary. You can make arrangements to be seen at Riverside Urgent Care when your child arrives in New Jersey. If you are not accompanying your child to Blair, we can help to coordinate transportation. Please contact the health center at healthcenter@blair.edu if you need assistance with making these arrangements.

If your child will receive his or her sports physical at Riverside Urgent Care, he or she must bring the following items:

1. Photo ID (for example, a driver’s license or valid passport
2. Completed sports physical forms
3. $30 fee (check or credit cards are accepted; the fee must be paid during the visit)
4. Parent authorization form to be presented at the front desk
5. Address and phone number in the U.S. for demographics

If you would like to make arrangements at Riverside Urgent Care on your own please contact the center at:

Riverside Urgent Care
228 Mountain Ave.
Hackettstown, NJ 07840
Phone: (908) 852-2470
Fax: (908) 850-1730
www.riversidemedgroup.com

Please note that Blair Academy is not affiliated with Riverside Urgent Care.

As always, if you have any questions regarding this communication or any other student health issue, please contact the health center at healthcenter@blair.edu and we will be happy to assist you.

Learn more about the scholastic student-safety act and requirements for the pre-participation physical exam.

Learn more about properly completing New Jersey physical forms for your student.