U.S. Senator Joni Ernst, Ranking Member of the Senate Small Business Committee, has announced Classroom Clinic of Carroll County as her Small Business of the Week. Classroom Clinic was founded in 2019 by a local psychiatric nurse practitioner, Sue Gehling, and focuses on providing mental health care to students while offering additional support to teachers and staff. With a team-based approach to the telehealth model, Classroom Clinic aims to address the mental health needs of students in rural school districts. Gehling grew up in rural Iowa and saw an opportunity to serve future generations by establishing her small business. Since its inception, Classroom Clinic has collaborated with four districts encompassing seven schools, providing mental health services to over 250 Iowa students. Ernst has also joined forces with her colleagues in the Senate by introducing the Protecting Rural Telehealth Access Act, a bipartisan effort to ensure that Americans continue to receive crucial care through telehealth services permanently. She says, “Telehealth access has become a valuable tool for families to reach a provider, especially in our rural communities. I’m recognizing Sue and her team at Classroom Clinic for their outstanding efforts to provide mental health care to our young Iowans.” Ernst is highlighting a small business each week from one of Iowa’s 99 counties during the 118th Congress.