The innovative program is provided at no cost to the school. This 21st century technology is designed to provide an accurate diagnosis of a child while at school and provides a variety of other benefits as well.
Telehealth helps provide access to health care, returns students to class and increases instructional time. In addition, the program reduces absenteeism and the impact of illness on students, schools and families.
“It mimics exactly what happens when you go to the doctor’s office. The tele-presenter is like the CNA who rooms you at the doctor’s office which, in the past, had to be performed by a certified nurse practitioner in a physician’s office,” Executive Medical Director School-Based Care at Cone Health Dr. John Jenkins said.
The Telehealth monitor is equipped with sensors, adapters, micro-cameras and lights to help the tele-presenter and remote CNA diagnose the child and recommend treatment options while the parent is monitoring the appointment from their smart phone.
On April 8, the Rockingham County School Board voted unanimously to partner with Cone Health, which selected Moss Street Elementary as the pilot school in the title I district.
“This is something good that’s coming into Rockingham County. Our hopes are that next year we may increase it to two schools, and, hopefully, within three or four years, have all 13 of our title I schools using this program,” said Executive Director Cone Health Philanthropy Stokes Ann Hunt.
The first year of the program was funded by a generous $100,000 donation by Reidsville native Tom Holderby in memory of his brother Trey, who died due to complications from cystic fibrosis, and his father John “Buck” Holderby who passed away in 2019.
Tom Holderby, a former All-Conference linebacker, and 1984 graduate of Reidsville Senior High School, went on to play football at Western Carolina on a scholarship. After graduation, he founded THS Development Company in Graham, a corporation that specializes in building apartments and has been in business for more than 38 years.
“Well, it was an easy decision for us. Basically, it’s for the kids and to honor my mother, my brother and father. We are all about helping, and this is just right up our alley,” said Holderby.
At the demonstration on the morning of Aug. 21, which was attended by a group of Cone Health executives and Rockingham County School dignitaries, Tom was joined by his mother Phyllis Buckner Holderby.
Tom also made a large contribution towards Reidsville Senior High School’s Community Stadium renovation two years ago.
“I grew up here, and I feel sort of obligated from my success with building apartments to give back to the community. I think it’s great, and it’s for the kids, and this medical clinic is just a fantastic situation. It was an easy decision, and that’s why we are here,” Holderby said.
Studies have shown that chronic absenteeism negatively affects productivity of the student population as a whole.
“You might have 30 percent of your students chronically absent, which means they are missing more than 10 percent of instructional time in a year. That’s going to make a real impact and allow the instructor to be able to teach that class and help students stay on course,” Jenkins said.
“What we have promised this community is that we will fund raise, and we are working with another donor to pay for a second year and then we will continue. We already have individuals that are donating to the fund. We hope that will not always need fundraising. We are working on policy for School-Based Telehealth so that in the future, most children have Medicaid. The goal is to get to the point where they can bill for the services, and we won’t have to provide them for free,” said Hunt.
Rockingham County Board of Education Chair Vicky Alston and Vice Chair Vickie T. McKinney visited Bessemer Elementary in Greensboro earlier this year and saw first-hand how the program has benefited that school.
“They can do everything with this that they could do in a doctor’s office. When Mrs. Alson and I visited Bessemer Elementary, she and I both looked at each other and said ‘this is Moss Street.’ I used to be a principal at Moss Street, and I know how much that it is needed here ... Mrs. Alston stepped in and called them – the Holderby’s, Tom – and within three minutes, he said I’ll do it. So, Rockingham County is very, very grateful to them because this will be phenomenal for these children,” McKinney said.
Others in attendance at the event included Chief Philanthropy Officer Cone Health Michelle Schneider; Assistant Superintendent of Instructional Support Services Rockingham County Schools Dr. Cindy Corcoran; Principal of Moss Street School Dr. Kelly Nelson-Danley; and Cone Health Marketing Communications Specialist Tyler Hickman.
For more information about this program, visit www.conehealth.com.
© 2024 the News & Record (Greensboro, N.C.). Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
