Chattooga, Trion City Schools receive gift
ROME, Ga., May 29, 2024 – Atrium Health Floyd has a long relationship with schools in the communities it serves. For more than a decade, it has provided athletic trainers to area high school teams – at no cost to the schools.
In 2016, the Corporate Health team assumed management of the school nurse programs in Rome City and Floyd County schools. That effort was later expanded to Polk County schools, and Floyd now provides access to on-campus care to more than 24,000 students.
More recently, Atrium Health Floyd signed agreements to be the Official Health Care Provider for with Rome City, Floyd County, Polk County, Chattooga County, Darlington and Trion City schools, adding even more value to the services already provided. These include close working relationships with college and career academies and scholarship opportunities for students, in addition to support on career days, health education and volunteer opportunities.
Now, that relationship has extended even further in Chattooga County and Trion City schools with a donation that is helping teachers and students with technology.
Atrium Health Floyd purchased approximately 160 computer monitors to help train teammates to use a new electronic medical record system. Once those monitors were no longer needed, the Information Technology team looked at options for what to do with these surplus resources.
While reselling them was an option, the team determined Floyd would not recoup much money from the sale. A brainstorming session among teammates working on the project resulted in a novel idea – ask school partners if they could use the monitors.
Chattooga County and Trion City schools were Atrium Health Floyd's newest partners, so the team reached out to the superintendents and Information Technology directors in those systems. Yes, they could use the monitors. They would enhance teacher work and student experience.
Marc Long, Information Services; Chris Butler; Corporate Health; Will Byington, Community Engagement; and Neil Gordon, Plant Facilities, worked together to gather the monitors and deliver them to the school districts.
The schools were extremely thankful, Byington said, telling the team the donation would save money and benefit teachers.
Patrick Clifton, technology director for Chattooga County Schools, said many of the monitors were used to replace aging monitors in elementary school classrooms, saving the school system about $250 per monitor to replace.
This was a huge team effort involving several Atrium Health Floyd departments, Byington said, and the result is that Atrium Health Floyd is directly helping students and teachers in the classroom, which aligns perfectly with its mission.
In donating those monitors, Atrium Health Floyd is elevating hope in the lives of the students who, in the not-too-distant future, will be business owners, teachers, government leaders and health care teammates, improving health, elevating hope and advancing healing – for all.
About Atrium Health Floyd
The Atrium Health Floyd family of health care services is a leading medical provider and economic force in northwest Georgia and northeast Alabama. Atrium Health Floyd is part of Charlotte, North Carolina-based Advocate Health, the third-largest nonprofit health system in the United States, created from the combination of Atrium Health and Advocate Aurora Health. Atrium Health Floyd employs more than 3,500 teammates who provide care in over 40 medical specialties at three hospitals: Atrium Health Floyd Medical Center – a 304-bed full-service, acute care hospital and regional referral center in Rome, Georgia; Atrium Health Floyd Polk Medical Center in Cedartown, Georgia; and Atrium Health Floyd Cherokee Medical Center in Centre, Alabama; as well as Atrium Health Floyd Medical Center Behavioral Health – a freestanding 53-bed behavioral health facility in Rome – and also primary care and urgent care network locations throughout northwest Georgia and northeast Alabama. Atrium Health Floyd also operates a stand-alone emergency department in Chattooga County, the first such facility to be built from the ground-up in Georgia.
About Atrium Health
Atrium Health is a nationally recognized leader in shaping health outcomes through innovative research, education and compassionate patient care. Based in Charlotte, North Carolina, Atrium Health is part of Advocate Health, the third-largest nonprofit health system in the United States, which was created from the combination with Advocate Aurora Health. A recognized leader in experiential medical education and groundbreaking research, Wake Forest University School of Medicine is its academic core. Atrium Health is renowned for its top-ranked pediatric, cancer and heart care, as well as organ transplants, burn treatments and specialized musculoskeletal programs. Atrium Health is also a leading-edge innovator in virtual care and mobile medicine, providing care close to home and in the home. Ranked nationally among U.S. News & World Report's Best Hospitals in eight pediatric specialties and for rehabilitation, Atrium Health has also received the American Hospital Association's Quest for Quality Prize and its 2021 Carolyn Boone Lewis Equity of Care Award, as well as the 2020 Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services Health Equity Award for its efforts to reduce racial and ethnic disparities in care. With a commitment to every community it serves, Atrium Health seeks to improve health, elevate hope and advance healing – for all, providing $2.8 billion last year in free and uncompensated care and other community benefits.
About Advocate Health
Advocate Health is the third-largest nonprofit integrated health system in the United States – created from the combination of Advocate Aurora Health and Atrium Health. Providing care under the names Advocate Health Care in Illinois, Atrium Health in the Carolinas, Georgia and Alabama, and Aurora Health Care in Wisconsin, Advocate Health is a national leader in clinical innovation, health outcomes, consumer experience and value-based care. Headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina, Advocate Health services nearly 6 million patients and is engaged in hundreds of clinical trials and research studies, with Wake Forest University School of Medicine serving as the academic core of the enterprise. It is nationally recognized for its expertise in cardiology, neurosciences, oncology, pediatrics and rehabilitation, as well as organ transplants, burn treatments and specialized musculoskeletal programs. Advocate Health employs 155,000 teammates across 69 hospitals and over 1,000 care locations, and offers one of the nation's largest graduate medical education programs with over 2,000 residents and fellows across more than 200 programs. Committed to providing equitable care for all, Advocate Health provides nearly $6 billion in annual community benefits.