Helping to keep kids in class: Telehealth in Guilford County Schools

Healthcare doesn’t usually begin in a classroom, but for many working families in Guilford County (NC), it does. This is thanks to a telehealth programme in Guilford County Schools, which is designed to improve access to on-demand healthcare for children. Established in 2021, the telehealth program enables students who feel sick during school time to visit an on-site medical assistant who determines their needs. For simple concerns, like a headache, the medical assistant cares for the child as needed. For other issues such as earaches, minor injuries, or colds, the medical assistant connects the student to an online call with a healthcare provider. Before this program was implemented, many Guilford County schools shared a school nurse who rotated among two or more campuses, meaning that when students fell sick at school, it was often not possible to treat them, even for minor conditions. As a result, they had to be picked up and taken home, causing parents to miss work and students to miss class for the rest of the day. Now, students return to class and can continue learning. “Using the telehealth system has allowed my child to have much less learning loss,” says one parent.