Atrium Health announced on May 1 a new partnership with area schools to expand access to mental health services for more than 27,500 students through its School-Based Virtual Therapy Program. The initiative provides teletherapy to students in grades five through twelve at schools in Crawford, Houston and Peach counties, as well as The Academy for Classical Education in Bibb County.
The program addresses growing concerns about youth mental health. In 2022, suicide was the fourth leading cause of death among children ages five to seventeen in Georgia, according to the Centers for Disease Control. A Mental Health America report from 2025 found that twelve percent of Georgia youth between ages twelve and seventeen had major thoughts of suicide, seventeen percent experienced a major depressive episode, and over nine percent reported substance abuse disorders. More than half who reported depression did not receive treatment.
To respond to these challenges, the Georgia Department of Education launched a grant program allocating $20,000 per public middle and high school statewide for student mental and behavioral health services. Atrium Health’s virtual therapy sessions are offered during the school day, after hours and over summer break. Treatment options include support for depression, anxiety, stress, grief, trauma, ADHD and family therapy needs.
“No student or family should have to navigate the struggles of anxiety, grief or depression alone,” said Atrium Health Georgia Market President Delvecchio Finley. “With this partnership, we can ensure students have access to the resources and support they need —not just to feel better today but to stay on a healthy path for learning, growth and success for many years to come.” Eva McNeill, associate vice president for Atrium Health’s Charlotte-based outpatient services said: “School-based virtual teletherapy has shown lifechanging outcomes including a nearly forty percent reduction in anxiety and depression symptoms in students. With the ability for parents to join sessions virtually family participation is growing. We are excited to offer this new resource for central Georgia families and are hopeful that we’ll be able to expand to serve additional schools in the area.”
The process begins when a parent or student contacts their school counselor who refers them to an Atrium Health therapist; appointments are scheduled within ten days of referral with secure technology provided at school if needed. Patient insurance is billed but financial assistance is available.
Since launching virtual teletherapy in 2020 Advocate Health—of which Atrium Health is part—has expanded care into more than three hundred schools across the Southeast including sixty schools in Georgia using nearly forty licensed therapists providing over twenty thousand sessions each year.
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