A.V. TEENS COULD SEE CLINIC VAN : MOBILE HEALTH UNIT WOULD VISIT SCHOOLS UNDER PLAN.

Byline: Charles F. Bostwick Daily News Staff Writer

Teen-agers whose families can't afford regular medical checkups could get them at school, under a proposal under consideration by Antelope Valley Union High School District officials.

School officials are considering bringing a mobile health clinic van that now visits elementary schools, particularly in the far eastern and western valley, onto each of the district's six comprehensive campuses once a month.

``We have approximately 21 percent of our student population that has no access or limited access to health care,'' said Dave Rich, director of pupil personnel services. ``The idea is to make the services readily available to students. If you're hurting, it's very hard to learn.''

Operated by the Los Angeles County Health Department, United Way, High Desert Hospital and the Visiting Nurse Association, the 18-month-old ``Care-A-Van'' is staffed by a nurse practitioner, a licensed vocational nurse and a clerk.

Patients are tested for anemia, lead and diabetes, their urine screened for infections and their noses, throats and ears examined.

The mobile clinic will not be offering birth control, pregnancy testing or prenatal care, school officials said. Parents will be asked to be present if possible during the checkups, and must sign consent forms for their children.

High school nurses and health technicians will help identify low-income students who should be seen and schedule their appointments.

The high school board is scheduled to vote tonight on whether to allow the Care-A-Van to examine students one day a month at Lancaster, Antelope Valley, Palmdale, Highland, Quartz Hill and Littlerock high schools.

The board will meet at 6 p.m. at the district office, 44811 Sierra Highway.

The checkups are intended to detect health conditions that might not be apparent, and arrange treatment before the problems get worse, officials said.

Often, especially when they have no health insurance and perhaps no car to drive to the doctor, parents don't take their children for routine checkups.

``If you're worrying about what you're going to feed your family tomorrow, going to a doctor when you're apparently well is not a priority,'' said Cheryl Mashore, the van's licensed vocational nurse.

But children and teens can have health problems even if they are not noticeably ill, she said.

At one of the community health clinics put on by the van's staff, a blood test showed that a teen-age boy was diabetic - unbeknown to himself or his family.

Failure to treat diabetes in youth can lead to worse consequences in adulthood, including renal failure and amputations.

``Had he not been tested with a simple finger stick, who knows what would have happened?'' Mashore said.

The Care-A-Van was started in September 1995 at the urging of elementary school district nurses, who saw a need in the valley's outlying areas for immunizations and school physicals.

``They had lots and lots of children that hadn't been immunized and hadn't been seen for their first-grade physical, which is mandated by the state,'' Mashore said.

The van now operates three days a week, visiting schools and other sites in Hi Vista, Neenach, Pearblossom, Littlerock and Palmdale. In those areas, the staff sees adults as well as children.

``The original goal of the van was to link people up to existing health care,'' Mashore said. ``In the year or so since we've been open, we've found out that really may not be realistic for a lot of people in this area. For one reason or another, they do not go to a traditional doctor's office.''