Johnson County board approves revised MOU to keep EMD telehealth, adds equipment and staffing conditions

The Johnson County School Board voted to approve a revised memorandum of understanding with vendor EMD to continue providing telehealth services for students and staff, adding stipulations requiring EMD to replace or repair substandard equipment and to provide a replacement nurse practitioner within seven days if the district-employed provider is unavailable.

The decision follows extended public comment and internal debate over whether to replace EMD with another vendor, including Ballad Health, or to issue a request for proposals. The board’s motion — approved on a roll call vote — keeps the current telehealth arrangement in place while requiring corrective steps from EMD and adding contractual safeguards.

The issue drew a large public response: the board discussed a community survey with 635 responses, of which 69.6% favored keeping the current EMD telehealth arrangement. School staff and parents addressed the board in person, describing how telehealth is used daily and urging the board to avoid disruptive changes.

"Our board meetings have to go better. Every meeting turns into a fight leaving someone feeling attacked or offended," said Hannah Dunn, a registered nurse for Roan Creek Elementary, during public comment, urging better conduct but also stressing the importance of reliable health services in schools. An unnamed school nurse described the clinics as "a school urgent care" that must operate quickly: "We see you urgently. We try to fix it urgently, and then we get you out."

Board members said equipment failures and slow vendor responsiveness were central concerns. One board member said the vote to keep EMD should include "stipulations: you get your equipment in functional order immediately" and that a representative should be allowed to inspect sites for compliance, HIPAA concerns and equipment function.

The approved motion (Option 1 in the board materials) kept EMD as the telehealth vendor and added the following stipulations recorded during the meeting discussion: immediate repair or replacement of nonfunctional telehealth equipment that EMD supplies; a contractual requirement that EMD provide an alternative nurse practitioner within seven days if the district-employed nurse practitioner is unavailable; and that the district-employed nurse practitioner continue to provide services during regular school hours with no additional pay for the vendor between 8:00 a.m. and 3:00 p.m., as reflected in the motion language.

The board recorded the vote by roll call; the motion passed with the three members present voting yes: Mister Graber (yes), Mister Robinson (yes) and Mister Moore (yes). The board discussion also noted that EMD would face a "three strikes" expectation: if EMD fails to meet contractual corrections, the district could pursue further action.

Board members and staff said the decision was intended to preserve continuity of care for students while forcing vendor accountability. Several speakers urged the board to add a clear time frame for vendor remedies; during debate the board settled on the seven-day replacement window for a provider as a contractual safeguard.

The board also discussed the possibility of an RFP if EMD fails to meet the new contract conditions, but no RFP motion was approved at the meeting. The board directed staff to incorporate the stipulated language and to ensure EMD would be evaluated for compliance going forward.

The vote and the surrounding public comments signaled strong local interest in maintaining on-site telehealth access while holding vendors to defined performance standards. The board’s action preserves the current telehealth workflow used by school nurses to triage and treat students quickly, subject to the added contractual requirements for equipment and staffing.