Telehealth pilot project launched
More broadband access expected
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WOODSFIELD -- Ohio Lt. Gov. Jon Husted announced that the first phase of the Broadband Telehealth Pilot Project in the Switzerland of Ohio School District is fully operational.
The state had partnered with InnovateOhio, BroadbandOhio, the Ohio Department of Education, the Ohio Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services, and the Ohio Department of Medicaid last year to provide students with access to mental health counselors in real time.
Husted updated Gov. Mike DeWine on the project Thursday during DeWine's regular Ohio Channel broadcast. Switzerland of Ohio is the largest school district in the state in terms of geography.
"It is a challenging place for internet service," Husted said of Monroe County. "There's 2,000 students in the district. They have eight buildings and the size of the school district is 536 square miles. ... The school district itself is nearly half the size of Rhode Island. This is the geography and the topography we're talking about. Very rural, a lot of undulating hills. … Hard to serve with internet service.
"The district was literally chosen for this because it was so hard," he continued. "If you can do it here, you can do it anywhere in Ohio, and they were in desperate need of mental health services and telehealth services due to the lack of connectivity in Monroe County for internet."
Husted said 72 percent of Monroe County's population has no internet service.
"We have an entire county that is not able to participate in the modern economy, modern education system and the modern health care system," he said. "We're serving their students now. We're getting them the services they need."
Husted added that this program can serve as a "roadmap" for other rural areas.
"Now we have the blueprint. We know how to do this from a technology point of view, from an administrative point of view," Husted said. "This plan is now available. It's being promoted to other rural school districts trying to accomplish the same goal."
Husted added that there are only two counselors in the school district and the drive between school buildings can take an hour or more.
"They just had no way to timely serve those students. Now, they're able to do this," he said.
Husted said counselors are now able to serve three to four times as many students.
"It's so much better than a phone call. They say the students are used to interacting on video screens," he said. "During COVID, it's been especially hard for them to be able reach those students in person."
District officials are pleased with the results.
“Phase 1 of this project has made behavioral health more accessible to the students of Switzerland of Ohio Local School District,” Lydia Brodegard, district project manager and director of special education at Ohio Valley Educational Service Center, said. “Our counselors and staff are equipped with state-of-the-art technology to meet the needs of students in crisis and support their needs right in their school buildings. Without this, students would have greater loss of in-seat time traveling to a provider or worse, no intervention at all. We are hopeful that with Phase 2 and the opportunities associated with the ARC grant, more families and our community will have access to broadband, the ability to access telehealth, and perhaps connect them to resources for education, workforce, and health care. We know in order to have a student truly succeed academically and prepare them for their future past graduation, we first need to help them achieve and maintain physical and mental health. With this project, we are equipped to do just that.”
Husted also announced the launch of the second phase of the project, which will work to connect the school's existing fiber-optic network directly to remote offices of mental health professionals, so students can have access to care and additional services, beyond the two counselors who physically work in the schools. The first such connection is with pilot project partner, Southeast Healthcare Facilities.
Husted said Phase 2 calls for project organizers to take the infrastructure and allow the entire community to benefit.
"We're launching a program today to extend high-speed internet services out to the community, that will connect students not only to their schools, not only to the behavioral health services, but to the rest of the world. We’re going to build off the infrastructure we created."
He said the project will receive help from the Appalachian Regional Commission in the form of a $500,000 grant.
"We think this is a model for others," he said.
The blueprint can be found at innovateohio.gov.