CINCINNATI — The Children’s Home of Cincinnati recently learned it will receive more than $450,000 from the Federal Communications Commission to enhance telehealth capabilities and better serve thousands of low-income and vulnerable young people across the city.
And during the COVID-19 crisis, leaders say they need all the help they can get.
The Children’s Home helps kids face life’s challenges head on, but the recent coronavirus pandemic is proving another hurdle to overcome.
“Just like with anything like the COVID-19 and the pandemic has not changed the fact that there are mental health issues across the country and across the world,” said John Banchy, Children’s Home president and CEO.
He says the non-profit agency headquartered in Madisonville serves more than 15,000 children each year.
“We’re the largest provider in Cincinnati to do mental health services in the schools,” Banchy said.
The pandemic has increased the need for telehealth services to be smooth and effective. Right now the Children’s Home is working to get more patients and medical staff on board.
“We had already done the research around telehealth and what it would take to get there, and it’s very expensive as you would imagine,” Banchy said.
That’s where the grant from the FCC comes in. The team heard about the grant in mid-April and applied the same day.
“This will really help us in terms of providing more laptops for our providers and those we serve, upgrades for our servers and the storage upgrades and cloud services and electronic health records to make sure that we can do this all the safe way,” he said.
Because even in a pandemic, the challenges never stop.
“To make sure that the health and the well-being of all of our future leaders, all the students of Cincinnati have access to care.”
For more information on the Children’s Home and its services, click here.
