Seven Elementary Schools in Bradley County, Cleveland City and Polk County Added to Telemedicine Program
Waycross, GA (PRWEB) January 21, 2015 -- Georgia Partnership for Telehealth announces that seven additional elementary schools in Bradley County, Cleveland City and Polk County have received Telemedicine equipment and procedures through the Telemedicine Venture Grant awarded by the United Way of Bradley County in 2014. These additions bring the total up to eleven schools in the area that can participate in the telemedicine program to connect to the Ronald McDonald Care Mobile, a mobile school-based clinic. The program expansion will allow students in multiple locations to be seen in the same day versus having to wait until the Care Mobile is scheduled to visit their school.
Ronald McDonald Care Mobile is funded and sponsored by Children's Hospital at Erlanger, Ronald McDonald House Charities, United Way of Bradley County, Coordinated School Health of Bradley County/Cleveland City/Polk County Schools, and Skyridge Medical Center. Services provided include acute sick care, prescriptions and over-the-counter medications, asthma treatment, sports physicals, well-child exams, and vaccinations. In addition to delivering care to students with Tenncare and commercial insurance, they also offer services at no cost to the uninsured.
“In January 2012, the Ronald McDonald Care Mobile began providing health services to at-risk students at three Bradley County school sites and served over 364 students during the spring semester,” said Sherrie Williams, Executive Director, Georgia Partnership for Telehealth. “The program has grown tremendously over the past three years, treating 1,478 students in the 2013-2014 school year. In addition to direct patient care, they participated in health-related fairs and school events in county and city schools. Services have expanded and include a rotation between two Bradley County schools and two Cleveland City schools.”
The Care Mobile clinic is staffed with a nurse practitioner under the direction of a pediatrician based at Children's Hospital at Erlanger. Despite the expanded coverage, nurses serving individual schools continue to see over 80,000 students each year in school clinics. The demand for the Care Mobile services is growing; however, the logistics of the Care Mobile being in more than one place at a time does not meet the demand for services.
Georgia Partnership for TeleHealth has worked diligently to make this mobile unit successful. This program is efficient and effective in giving students the best access to local healthcare and specialists outside their local area. The school nurses also benefit by having access to support as well as the ability to present students with more advanced care, adding value to the school nurses’ everyday patient encounters.
About Georgia Partnership for TeleHealth
Georgia Partnership for TeleHealth, is a charitable nonprofit corporation which was formed to promote improvements in healthcare and healthcare facilities in underserved communities by assisting in the establishment of telemedicine programs. GPT is known as the leading agency globally focusing on increasing access to healthcare through innovative use of technology. GPT is one of the entities that belongs to the Global Partnership for TeleHealth. The mission of the Global Partnership for TeleHealth is to deliver worldwide access to healthcare. Our unparalleled success in the United States in applying telehealth programs and services has assisted agencies in providing cost effective, efficient, and high quality healthcare. For more information visit the GPT website at http://www.gatelehealth.org.
Sherrie Williams, Executive Director, Georgia Partnership for Telehealth, http://www.gatelehealth.org, 866-754-4325, [email protected]
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