LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- Norton Healthcare and Jefferson County Public Schools will expand their school telehealth program, soon offering virtual health care services to students in all 89 of Louisville's public elementary schools.

Instead of going to a pediatrician's office with their parents, they can get help at school.

Right now, 50 JCPS elementary schools have this technology. However, thanks to a $122,000 Norton Children's Hospital Foundation grant, eCare services will be an option in all 89 JCPS elementary schools over the next two years.

"We have so many families who work long hours or their grandparents caring for grandchildren (and) they don't have transportation," said Rachel Alexander, the manager of telehealth for Norton Healthcare. "So this is a great way for the child to spend a majority of their time in the school building. It is a way for us to bring health care to them." 

Students will be able to see a Norton Healthcare nurse practitioner through a secure video feed from their school nurse's office. The JCPS telehealth program makes listening to the heart and lungs possible at school. It also has the ability to read a strep, flu and COVID-19 testing in 20 minutes. The nurse practitioner can also test for RSV.

"Instead of that child having to stay home to wait to get into the pediatrician, we were able to get the child seen that day and go ahead and get her clear to be back in school," said Karen Waggoner, principal of Jacob Elementary School. 

Eva Stone, who manages district health for JCPS, said evidence shows not all JCPS families have equal access to healthcare.

"We've seen that through the years, since I've worked in JCPS. We know that there are places where kids aren't having their physical exams that are required for schools. We've had deficits on kids being able to get vaccines. And if they don't have access to health care for those preventive services, then we can expect that they don't have access to that kind of care for sick services as well. So, this lets us bring the services to where the children are. And that is a powerful way to change that narrative," Stone said.

Typically, a student could get an appointment within 30 minutes to an hour, giving parents enough time pick up their child and their prescriptions before taking them home.

If a child does not have insurance, Norton has a program that stops the bill from going out and will try and get them set up with insurance.

"Our goal is to make sure our kids are here and in school," Stone said. "It takes all of us working together to be able to get this done."

It's a move to try and keep about 43,000 elementary schoolers safe and healthy in the classroom.

Visit SchoolTelehealth.NortonHealthcare.org to complete enrollment or you may ask your child's school for an enrollment form to fill out and turn in to your school nurse. You can enroll your child anytime and must do so once per school year.

In the future, the program could be expanded to include JCPS middle and high schools.

"Elementary, we probably see the most illness — small people, lots of passing of germs," Alexander said. "So we see that to be most effective area for sick visits. Now, if we expand to chronic conditions, asthma, diabetes, things like that, then I think there's definitely a need beyond elementary school."

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