School-Based Virtual Health

Our School-Based Virtual Health program is bringing the expertise of Cook Children's pediatrics to schools throughout the area. It's fast, easy and convenient. The school nurse simply connects virtually to a Cook Children's board certified pediatrician or certified nurse practitioner and kids are seen right from the school nurse's office.

Designed with schools, parents, and children in mind, this program saves time, reduces outbreaks of contagious illnesses and lost school days, relieves stress for children, and parents no longer have to leave work right away and try to squeeze a child into a last minute doctor's appointment or urgent care clinic.

Information for Parents

See which schools are participating and register your child.

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Information for School Nurses

Helpful resources and support for participating school nurses.

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Information for School Administrators

Learn about the advantages of school-based Virtual Health.

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How does it work?

With the parent's permission, a student may be evaluated by a board certified pediatrician or certified nurse practitioner through a virtual conference. Parents have the option of being a part of the virtual visit by logging into a secure website or joining by phone. If the child has a condition appropriate for Virtual Health, the school nurse can connect with a Cook Children's pediatrician or nurse practitioner.

nurse-student nursepractitioner-telemed

The Cook Children's provider will complete an assessment of the student to include input from the school nurse and participating parent/legal guardian during the visit. The school nurse will assist the provider during the evaluation through the use of special equipment as needed. The provider can hear the student's heart and lungs with a digital stethoscope. The provider can closely examine the student's ears, throat, rash, or abrasions with a high definition camera.

Upon completion of the evaluation, the provider will give instructions for follow-up care and submit a prescription to the pharmacy of choice if needed. A record of the student's visit will be kept in Cook Children's medical records for future reference and a copy is sent to the primary care physician on record. A return to school note is sent to the school if needed. The parent/guardian will have access to all treatment information through the MyCookChildren's patient portal.

Meet our team

Autumn Morris

Autumn Morris graduated from the nurse practitioner program at UTA in 2009. She worked for 10 years in pediatric primary care in Euless before joining the Cook Children's Virtual Health team. She is the mother of 2 busy daughters and when she is not driving them all around town to their activities, she enjoys reading, Astros baseball and spending time with her family. She is excited to be able to help the families of Cook Children’s through Virtual Health.

Dr. Justin Smith

Dr. Justin Smith is the father of 3 young children and ready to join you in a team approach to caring for your child. He completed medical school at UT Southwestern and pediatric residency at Texas Children's Hospital. He gained 4 years of experience in Abilene working in a pediatric office as well as the NICU, pediatric hospital and PICU prior to joining Cook Children's in 2013. In his spare time he enjoys writing about pediatric care and parenting issues. He is an avid Mavericks and Aggie fan but will also talk with your family about ADHD, behavior problems, asthma, physical fitness and well child care.

Holly Erwin

Holly is a mom of four boys and has worked as a pediatric nurse for over 14 years within the Cook Children's Health Care System. As the nurse coordinator, Holly helps to on-board schools and train nurses in school based telemedicine procedure, as well as the labs that associated with the program under our CLIA license.

When she's not working, Holly spends her time running to and from sports for her boys, being outside in nature and dreaming of traveling with her husband. For now, she settles for their bi-annual date-night!

Jeanette Aguilar

Jeanette is our bilingual Telemedicine Coordinator and had been a Medical Assistant since 2004. She joined Cook Children’s in 2012 and has been a part of the Telemedicine team since 2016. Her experience in both the front office and back office has helped implement telemedicine throughout several departments. In her spare time she enjoys traveling with her husband and three sons.

Kari Lipscomb

Kari Lipscomb is the director of Virtual Health, as well as several other clinics at Cook Children’s.

She is a Texas Tech alum (wreck ‘em!) and spent 5 years in corporate training and service management before coming to Cook in 2011, which helped base her foundation and love for building new programs such as this one.

Outside of work, Kari has a husband and 3 small kids. With them, she enjoys going camping as a family and spending quality time together. She is a self-described “foodie” and loves to try new places and foods, as well as is constantly looking for new recipes to try in the kitchen. Above all her titles that she carries, she says her most favorite is easily the role of Mama.

Have questions or need information?

For more information, email us at schooltelemed@cookchildrens.org.