HINTON, W.Va. — The Marshall Health Network and Appalachian Regional Healthcare (ARH) are teaming up to bring child and adolescent mental telehealth services to Summers County.

Providers from Marshall Health plan to offer mental health support for pediatric patients with diagnoses including depression, anxiety and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder. Patients visit the Summers County ARH Rural Health Clinic to receive assistance.

Representatives from Marshall Health and ARH gathered in Summers County Thursday afternoon to celebrate the collaboration.

“Children are referred to the World Health Clinic here and they are able to come to this clinic where a nurse sees him, they go through a lot of information, they’re able to get their vitals which are important for us and their documentation that we need to have,” explained Hillary Porter, associate professor at Marshall University’s Joan C. Edwards School of Medicine’s Department of Pediatrics.

Porter said the partnership provides better access to kids who need help.

“Kids could get treated sooner than they may have otherwise, maybe with medications that other providers don’t feel comfortable using, getting them on the right track and hopefully cutting down on the long-term really negatives effects of mental health problems that we see,” she said.

ARH West Virginia Region Clinic Administrator David Conley said Marshall Health has a number of providers in the Huntington area and surrounding communities.

“It was an obvious choice to be able to work with them because of their provider network. Given the number of providers they have really helps cuts down that barrier to access,” he said.

New patients will be accepted by referral. For more information, contact the Summers County ARH Rural Health Clinic at 304-466-2918.