Video #16 Transcript

Good evening Hamblen County.  Today is April 10, 2020.  Please contact Kellie Smith if you have any questions or concerns for the Hamblen County Coronavirus Task Force and we will address those issues in a future broadcast. 

1.         Cherokee Health Systems is an important part of our community and they offer a number of valuable services to our community.  They want to assure everyone that they are continuing to provide medical and behavioral health care at Cherokee Health Systems during the COVID-19 pandemic.  They are offering virtual visits via telehealth in order to reduce unnecessary risk of exposure. If you would like to schedule an appointment for your child, or for any other family member, please call 866-231-4477. If your child experiences a health concern while their offices are closed, they would like to offer advice to help your child receive the care that he/she needs. Our Cherokee after-hours phone number is 800-305-4291.

2.         We have had a couple of questions about Jumpstart and Kindergarten Round-Up which involves our upcoming kindergarten students.  The School District will need to have some type of program to meet with our kindergarten students before they enter school in fall but we will have to do this later in the summer.  It is the school district’s intent to have both Jumpstart and our Kindergarten Round-Up.  The school district will notify the public of these dates when we finalize them.  

3.         Many in our community have been economically impacted by various industries and businesses being closed due to the virus.   These individuals have access to unemployment benefits and they should take advantage of this program.  The Department of Labor and Workforce Development is attempting to process all of applications as quickly as possible.  However, many individuals have not fully understood who is eligible and have applied for benefits.  These applications have been approved and payments have been submitted based on the information contained within the application.  After further processing, it has been determined some individuals did not qualify for these benefits and those individuals may be required to repay any benefits they have received.  Please apply for all benefits you are eligible for but be honest and truthful in the application.  We don’t want to see individuals getting into financial trouble by having to repay unemployment benefits. 

Stay home, stay healthy and take care of your family.  We will talk with you again on Monday.