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Ask Susan Thompson why she supports school-based telehealth in Rockingham 
County, and she’ll tell you it’s rooted in a simple belief: You help your neighbors. 
That belief has shaped her four decades in the county and guides the way she thinks 
about giving: If something improves life in the place you call home, you invest in it.
Susan has made two major gifts to expand and sustain school-based telehealth in 
Rockingham County. The impact of her one-time contribution and her multiyear 
pledge was immediately clear, especially after visiting Moss Street Elementary, a 
school where many students face significant economic challenges.
“Of all the ways to direct my giving, I thought school-based telehealth would be the 
most helpful in terms of serving the people here,” Susan says. Touring Moss Street 
confirmed it. “I saw exactly what was happening and thought, this is a no-brainer. 
If we can keep children in school who would normally have to go home, and their 
parents don’t have to miss work, that’s important. For many of these kids, this may 
be their only regular access to a doctor.”
A veteran mathematics and business technologies instructor at Rockingham 
Community College, Susan sees the educational and community benefits of keeping 
kids healthy and in the classroom. “Anything that makes a student more attentive in 
class or less likely to be absent has to be a good thing,” she says.
She also recognizes the long-term ripple effect. “People want schools to solve 
problems that aren’t really the schools’ problems,” she says. “But when we support 
families this way, it becomes a step toward getting the kind of health care they need. 
Some of these children may not have access otherwise.”
Susan’s commitment to Rockingham County runs deep. She previously served on 
the Annie Penn Hospital Foundation board and now represents Rockingham County 
on the Cone Health Philanthropy board. She also serves on the Salvation Army 
advisory board and the Barry L. Joyce Local Cancer Support Fund board. She views 
giving as both a responsibility and a privilege. “The impact isn’t just the gift you give 
in that moment,” she says. “Sometimes when people see you investing in something, 
they decide it’s worth investing in too.”
To Susan, community is a place where people feel supported, where they can thrive 
and where their contributions matter. Her investment in school-based telehealth 
reflects her belief that thoughtful giving begins close to home yet reaches much 
farther. Her gift is both practical and profound: Help the children, and the whole 
community grows stronger. 
Thoughtful giving that 
begins close to home
families who no longer have to 
choose between care and work. 
Across Guilford, Rockingham and 
Alamance counties, school-based 
telehealth has become a steady 
presence, woven into the rhythms 
of the school day and the lives that 
surround it.
By 2024, the work had drawn 
national attention. School systems 
from Chicago, Baltimore, Ohio and 
Florida visited the program to learn 
from its approach — a signal of how 
far our model has traveled from 
its earliest classrooms. In January, 
NBC News featured school-based 
telehealth during its national nightly 
broadcast.
This is not a finished story. Needs 
continue to evolve, and integrating 
care into schools remains complex 
work, but the trajectory is clear. 
In a short period, school-based 
telehealth has moved from 
possibility to presence, reshaping 
how care shows up across our 
region.
BEHAVIORAL HEALTH, 
BUILT INTO THE  
SCHOOL DAY
Cone Health’s school-based 
telehealth program now 
includes remote mental 
health services, connecting 
students experiencing 
anxiety, depression or other 
behavioral health needs with 
a therapist during the school 
day. A community care worker 
supports sessions, scheduling 
and family follow-up in ways 
that minimize classroom 
disruption and expand access.
 the giving effect  2025      31 

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