b'The CMA Academy will help us staff the growing number of school-based telehealth clinics in our local schools.In our last issue, we introduced you to Kaleesi, a Bessemer Elementary student who has benefited greatly from telehealth. Scan the QR code at left to access her story and video. Bessemer was the first school in our effort to place clinics inside 51 Targeted High Poverty Schools, and look how far weve come in a short time with your help:We now have nine sites open inWeve signed a research agreementDonors have rallied behind the elementary schools across Greensborowith Guilford County Schools totelehealth movement: $600,000 from and High Point. In 2024, we will openmeasure and publish the impactWeaver Foundation, along with a seven more. Were also exploringof school-based telehealth in ourGuilford Education Alliance grant that possibilities in Alamance andcommunity. includes $250,000 from Healthy High Rockingham counties. Point Foundation and $2.1 million from Cone Healths learning collaborative,Oak Foundation.More than 1,000 students consentedsupported by The Duke Endowment, to treatment in nine schools by thenow spans systems from Georgia toAt the Carnegie Summit, school end of 2023, and the volume of visitsVirginiaand we have been invited tosystems from Chicago, Baltimore, Ohio is steadily increasing. Recently, we setextend our grant. and Florida visited our program to a daily record of 11 virtual visits andlearn more.25 encounters in one week, with new records achieved each week. The Weaver Foundation is unwavering in its commitment to the well-being A groundbreaking Memorandumof children. As our community grows and evolves, so must our strategies to of Understanding with the Guilfordensure that kids are healthy, supported and thriving. School-based telehealth County Health Department tois an innovative yet logical solution to many challenges families are facing. collaborate in the care of studentsThere was no question that the Weaver Foundation would partner with Cone makes us a model for other programsHealth in this endeavor. The benefits of supporting our children, their families in our state. and our community in this way are simply too significant to overlook. Mike and Katherine WeaverNext, it was time to interview for a job. It was no secret thatWhen they told me, I cried. Its like this place was built for Jessica hoped to continue on where shed worked her clinicalme and these people were put there for me to come work externship, LeBauer Primary Care at MedCenter High Point.with. We get along so well. And Im so much more confident During her last few weeks, shed noticed candidates comingnow. You would think I have no anxiety at all. Every day in for interviews. They looked sharp and experienced.when I walk into the office, I think, Wow, thats my desk.When it came time for her own interview, she remindedMore than anything, Jessica loves to care for people.herself what Tammy had asked her during the screening process for the CMA Academy several months prior.I want to be the smiling face patients see when I open the door and call their name. Some dont have family and Tammy said, If someone wrote a book about you, whathavent seen anyone for a week or two, and I get to talk to would they call it? and I said, The Girl Who Never Gave Up.them. I always say, How are you? and most say, Not too This opportunity to go through the CMA Academy was rightgood and I tell them, Were going to figure it out.there knocking, and I knew I had to push through. No was not an answer. This was my chance to change my life. Thats why Jessica is excited to be in the health care field. I feel like I can be part of a change for people, she says. I With that same sense of fortitude, Jessica interviewedcan make sure they know they are cared for. Ill always be successfully and secured the job of her dreams, workingright there, smiling.with the team of her dreams. Smiling and proudly wearing her badge.18Cone Health Philanthropy'