ROANOKE, Va. – Carilion Clinic announced that it will not be renewing nursing contracts with Roanoke City Public Schools (RCPS), ending its years-long partnership.
“After careful consideration, we made the decision to discontinue our oversight of school-based nursing for Roanoke City Public Schools,” said Hannah Curtis, the public information officer for Carilion Clinic in an email statement to 10 News.
The decision to terminate the school-based nursing contracts stems from the clinic’s focus on improving access to pediatric services across the region.
The statement states that the transition was announced in May to give the schools ample time to prepare.
“We appreciate the important role that school nurses play and prioritized giving as much lead time as possible, offering a six-month transition period to ensure a smooth handoff while school officials determine a new staffing provider. We are working closely with staff, supporting them through this transition as RCPS determines next steps,” said Curtis in the statement.
Parents received a letter from RCPS on May 27 regarding this transition.
RCPS stated that the health and safety of students is their top priority and that they are currently working to find a new provider to continue offering healthcare services.
Roanoke City Central Council PTA Secretary Jessie Coffman said she’s disappointed and nervous about the announcement.
She said it gives her a little relief that Roanoke City Schools might hire its own nurses. However, one of her kids goes to the nurse every day.
“Carilion does at least carry the confidence of the health system. It makes me a little bit nervous when your elementary student takes medicine, and so it was nice to have the confidence of the Carilion name behind that, and so I trust what the school system does, but I’m disappointed,” said Coffman.
Chuck Lionberger, director of community relations for Roanoke County Public Schools, mentioned that they hire their own nurses. Roanoke County Public Schools currently employs 30 nurses, with one assigned to each of the 27 schools, along with two floater nurses and one nursing supervisor.
Other school districts, such as Henry County and Lynchburg City Schools, also reported that they hire their own nurses, according to Christy Landon, Director of Human Resources for Henry County Schools, and Austin Journey, Supervisor of Communications for Lynchburg City Schools.
Montgomery County and Alleghany Highlands also hire their own nurses.
Carilion’s recent decision comes at a time when nurses are highly needed across the U.S. Currently Carilion will continue to maintain its support of the student clinics at Patrick Henry High School, William Fleming High School and the LIFT Center at Fallon Park Elementary School.
WSLS will continue to follow this story for updates.
Read Carilion Clinic’s full statement here:
After careful consideration, we made the decision to discontinue our oversight of school-based nursing for Roanoke City Public Schools. We are committed to improving community health, and this decision allows us to focus on improving access to pediatric services across our region.
We appreciate the important role that school nurses play and prioritized giving as much lead time as possible, offering a six-month transition period to ensure a smooth handoff while school officials determine a new staffing provider. We are working closely with staff, supporting them through this transition as RCPS determines next steps.
Though we are stepping away from direct management of school-based health services, we remain committed to improving community health and will continue to support RCPS through impactful collaborations, including in our student clinics at Patrick Henry High School and William Fleming High School as well as the LIFT Center at Fallon Park Elementary School.
Read Roanoke City Public Schools’ letter to the parents here: