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Dr. Lynette Wilson-Phillips is on the left
Rockdale County Public Schools (RCPS) is partnering with the nonprofit, Kids’-Doc-On-Wheels (KDOW), to provide school-based telehealth and mobile medical services for RCPS students.
These comprehensive pediatric services, which are available to all RCPS families on a voluntary basis, supplement existing school-based clinic services and can help reduce missed instructional time for students and missed work time for parents.
At its November 2020 work session, the Rockdale County Board of Education approved an action item advanced by Superintendent Terry Oatts to acquire school-based telehealth services for the 2020-2021 school year.
The Board’s approval was the culmination of a months-long effort by Dr. Oatts that included the establishment of a Telehealth Working Group, consisting of representatives from key district departments such as Community and Student Support, Human Resources and Athletics, that scrutinized telehealth providers before recommending Kids’-Doc-On-Wheels, Inc., a nonprofit dedicated to affording school districts comprehensive telehealth and mobile medical unit services.
“I thank our Board for their support of this timely telehealth initiative that significantly advances a key strategic priority of affording our students a wide range of support services that either directly or indirectly facilitates their learning, achievement and growth,” said Dr. Oatts. “Such telehealth services will conveniently enable immediacy and continuity of care for our students potentially minimizing undue or protracted absences due to a wide range of factors.”
Kids’-Doc-On-Wheels Co-Founder and Medical Director Dr. Lynette Wilson-Phillips said, “Kids’-Doc-On-Wheels is very excited to be able to establish school-based telehealth services with Rockdale County Public Schools.
The opportunity to complement the care provided for students by RCPS and the local primary care providers with the delivery of comprehensive and accessible pediatric services is one that we are grateful to have been extended through the visionary leadership of Dr. Oatts with the strong support of the Rockdale County Board of Education and community stakeholders. KDOW is sincerely grateful for the opportunity to serve.”
School-based telehealth services are essentially remote medical services conveniently provided to students utilizing remote technologies and do not require students to visit traditional brick-and-mortar medical facilities.
Such services provided in school settings could minimize missed instructional time for students and work time for parents. Additionally, comprehensive telehealth services would support the existing school-based clinic services by providing a wider range of health services, both remotely and via a designated mobile medical unit.
The RCPS Lead Nurse, in coordination with school clinic personnel and KDOW, will facilitate outreach to families for voluntary enrollment in the telehealth services, which will be required if families wish to access the telehealth services. Existing school clinic services will still be available for all students. Families will be provided more information on the specific services available through the telehealth and mobile medical unit services in the weeks ahead.