We are excited about our partnership with Ballad Health that provides our students and staff with the opportunity to have an Urgent Care visit without ever leaving school grounds. Through telehealth equipment provided by Ballad, students and staff can live stream with an Urgent Care physician or nurse practitioner to receive an evaluation, take a test, receive a diagnosis, and order a prescription.
In the coming weeks all schools will have this service available to them. We are already up and running at Greendale, Meadowview, Damascus, E.B. Stanley, Glade Spring, Holston, Wallace, Valley Institute, Patrick Henry, Abingdon Elementary and Watauga. As a matter of fact we had our first employee take advantage of the service last week. SRO Mike Reid had a visit at Damascus Middle School. Here is what he said about the experience.
"I used the telehealth system last week. The process was simple and very user friendly. I didn't have to take time out of my day to run to urgent care or otherwise. After the visit, meds were called in to my pharmacy. Would definitely use this service in the future."
I know this will be a great service to our students, families and staff. When combined with the in-person clinic at John Battle, access to affordable healthcare has never been more available to our stakeholders.
If you have any questions, please contact me or Head Nurse Paula Nichols pnichols@wcs.k12.va.us
Thank you,
Keith Perrigan, Ed.D.
Superintendent
Washington County Public Schools
812 Thompson Dr.
Abingdon, VA 24210
276-739-3000
@WashCoSuper