Johnson County board votes to end telehealth MOU with EMD after months without clinician

A board member moved and the Johnson County Board of Education voted to authorize the school system attorney to send written notice terminating the memorandum of understanding (MOU) with telehealth vendor EMD after the vendor failed to supply a clinician for several months.

Board members said EMD promised an on‑site or virtual nurse practitioner months ago but had not followed through. School staff member Angie Wills told the board she had been contacting EMD on a weekly basis and that the district had received repeated assurances—"we're interviewing next week"—without result. The board said the district has lacked telehealth coverage for staff and students since March.

One board member said, "Telehealth is a vital service to the school system without question," and argued the district should seek another vendor rather than continue waiting. The board directed its attorney, Mister McCarty (school counsel), to send a termination letter and for staff to begin preparing a request for proposals (RFP) to solicit replacement telehealth services.

The motion as presented in the meeting referenced the district's MOU (Exhibit B, subsection B(5)) and specified that, if approved, written notice would be sent. Board members asked staff how quickly an RFP could be ready; staff reported active work already under way and estimated follow‑up actions would begin immediately. The attorney's termination letter was to be dispatched the morning after the meeting if the motion passed.

On a roll call following the motion, the board recorded affirmative votes by Miss Brown, Mister Graver/Graeber, Mister Robinson, Mister Walker and Mister Long. The motion carried; the board instructed staff to proceed with procurement of replacement telehealth services.