The 2025 Telehealth Innovator award was presented to McLeod Health Family Nurse Practitioner Lauren Johnson, MSN, APRN, FNP-BC during the 13th Annual Telehealth Summit of South Carolina held last month in Charleston. The award recognizes an individual champion in the areas of clinical care, education, IT support or policy who is excelling in the adoption and innovation of telehealth within a practice, health center, school-based, or administrator setting.
Johnson is the primary nurse practitioner for McLeod Health’s school-based telehealth program which provides virtual appointments to students while they stay at school. She’s able to treat ear infections, check for strep throat, assess rashes and other injuries. Treating students through school-based telehealth helps keep students in school which results in less time missed from school and less work time missed by parents.
“Lauren is not only a provider but she goes back to the basics of being a nurse because she does a lot of education with the student and with the parent about what’s going on,” said Mary Alice Faulkenberry, a school nurse at Hannah-Pamplico School.
Faulkenberry said Johnson works very well with students and takes the time to educate them about follow-up care to ensure they recover from their illnesses. She’s also willing to go above and beyond to take the school-based telehealth program to the next level by expanding it to more schools to provide care to more students and staff members.
Palmetto Care Connections is the host of the Annual Telehealth Summit of South Carolina. The Telehealth Summit brings together leaders and professionals interested in utilizing telehealth to increase access to health care.
