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LAFAYETTE, La. (AP) — Thanks to Lafayette General Medical Center, treating students is becoming easier.
The Lafayette General Medical Center Foundation has donated the technology to launch a telemedicine clinic at Ossun Elementary, and it has changed how the school nurse's office operates.
"Anything that can be done at a small clinic can be done here," Maurdey Durand, Ossun's school nurse tells KATC-TV (http://bit.ly/1tmA2sH). "I think it is very beneficial because the kids that can stay at school can stay and we do it comfortably."
Durand said the program now allows her to connect with a doctor through a TV screen to treat students. Ossun Elementary is the flagship campus for the technology. Each setup costs between $15,000 and $30,000.
"The idea is to keep them more in their seat, but we're also offering services to kids who might not otherwise have them available," said Dr. Donna Jean Wilson, who teleconferences with Durand and students for appointments.
The program helps eliminate the need for a student to miss class for headaches, toothaches, and other aches and pains that would typically send them home.
Now, they're in and out of the nurse's office in 30 minutes or less.
"It's important for us in the school system that the students can be treated for minor illnesses and injuries here at their school and return to class," said Bradley Cruice, the director of health and wellness for the Lafayette Parish School System.
The Lafayette Parish School System's telemedicine program is an addition to the district's school based health system, which is housed at Carencro Middle School.
"We are the communities non-for-profit hospital system, so the community owns us, and so doing something like this is giving back to the community," said Cian Robinson, the executive director of the Lafayette General Medical Center Foundation
Robinson said new telemedicine clinics will come online in the next 90 days at three other Carencro-area schools — Carencro Heights Elementary, Live Oak Elementary, and Carencro High.
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Information from: KATC-TV, http://katc.com
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