VOLUSIA COUNTY, Fla. — AdventHealth is donating 36 tablets and printers to schools with the highest rates of absenteeism.

  • AdventHealth donating tablets to Volusia schools with high absenteeism 
  • Tablets have eCare app, which enables video visits w/ medical professionals
  • Program has begun at West Side Elementary School in Daytona Beach

These tablets will have their eCare app, that will allow parents and sick students to have a face-to-face video visit with a board-certified physician or nurse practitioner for a range of urgent care issues, such as pink eye, coughs/colds/flu, minor injuries, allergies, urinary tract infections, and more.

The program has begun at West Side Elementary School in Daytona Beach and will roll out to an additional 35 schools in the coming months.

According to Volusia County Schools, about a quarter of West Side's students were chronically absent, meaning they missed 10 or more days of school. Records show during the 2017-2018 school year, nearly 17 percent of all Volusia County students were chronically absent, which is about 11,000 students.

“Now they are able to come in, meet with a physician at the school, pick up the prescription on the way home, and ideally the kid is back in school the next day, and the parent is back at work,” said Anna Donaldson, Advent Health Director of Strategic Partnerships.

During this virtual visit, students can receive a diagnosis for minor ailments, learn about treatment options, receive follow-up instructions and obtain a prescription if needed – all without leaving the school clinic or at home at the family’s convenience.

​The school nurse at West Side believes this will make caring for a sick child easier on working parents.

"You know parents are working all day, and they come in, and you know they don't have time to spend hours in the emergency room. So to be able to talk to a doctor face-to-face, you can send pictures if it’s a rash or something like that,” said Kennetha Council, a school nurse.

Student Christopher Anderson and his mother, who was skeptical, tested it out.

“If you think about it, you’re looking at a computer, how are they really going to diagnose my child? But going through the steps and seeing this and all of that, it felt basically like I was there, except I wasn’t there, because with cameras nowadays, you can see a whole lot of stuff," said Letisha Anderson, a mother of a student.

This program is just the first phase of AdventHealth’s $2 million, five-year partnership with Volusia County Schools.