November 7, 2024

WSU Vancouver scrambles to provide health services on campus

WSU  Vancouver’s  health  services  program  failed  to  re-establish  a  contract  with  their  previous  healthcare  provider,  Vancouver  Clinic, leaving students without care options after closing on July 31. Students pay for this resource with their tuition, raising the question: when will these health services be re-established on campus?

“Now that we’re potentially going to have this different vendor, a new relationship, it’s going to take some time to figure out really what’s working and what’s not working and make some adjustments.” – Patience McGinnis

Health Services was formed to provide basic healthcare to students at little to no out-of-pocket cost. In 2017, the Student Wellness Center partnered with Vancouver Clinic to achieve this goal.

 

Patience McGinnis, a licensed psychologist and director of the Student Wellness Center, said that through this program, students were able to receive health care from a nurse practitioner on campus Mondays and Thursdays. Some of the services offered included wellness exams,  immunizations,  treatment  for  chronic  and  acute  conditions, sexually  transmitted  infection  testing,  smoking  cessation  and  nutritional counseling.

 

According  to  McGinnis,  Health  Services  saw  peak  student  usage during  the  2019-2020  academic  year,  with  121  individuals  utilizing the  services  provided.  McGinnis  said  Health  Services  saw  a  drop  in appointments  due  to  COVID-19  —  with  89  individuals  seeking  care during the 2021 to 2022 academic year. However, she also said these numbers were steadily increasing prior to their separation with Vancouver Clinic.

 

McGinnis  said  the  most  utilized  resources  included  prescription services,  immunizations  and  wellness  exams.  However,  without  a  nurse  practitioner  on  campus,  these  services  remain  inaccessible  to students.

 

“We are in the process of re-establishing and hope and anticipate to resume in November. It will be likely with a different agency, but we would be able to provide all of the same services as before,” McGinnis said.

 

Despite offering the same services, McGinnis anticipates some turbulence  as  they  become  established  with  a  new  provider.  She  said that  once  Health  Services  is  fully  operational,  students  can  provide feedback via focus groups, satisfaction surveys or one-on-one meetings.

 

“Now  that  we’re  potentially  going  to  have  this  different  vendor, a  new  relationship,  it’s  going  to  take  some  time  to  figure  out  really what’s working and what’s not working and make some adjustments,” McGinnis said.

 

According to McGinnis, Health Services is funded through the Services  and  Activities  Fees  portion  of  student  tuition.  Undergraduate and graduate students taking over 10 credits paid $279.50 each this semester for Services and Activities Fee.

 

Sara  Rauch,  director  of  business  services  at  WSU  Vancouver,  said that groups on campus similar to Health Services are allocated funds from  this  fee  every  year.  According  to  Rauch,  Health  Services  was allocated  $148,482  for  this  fiscal  year.  According  to  the  Service  and  Activities  Fees website,  this  is  an  increase  from  last  year’s  allocation of $140,037, which made up 6.4% of the Services and Activities Fee fund.

 

“If  there  are  unspent  funds  at  the  end  of  the  fiscal  year,  those  are collected  back  and  returned  to  the  central  account;  there,  we  hold those funds to be redeployed in the next year,” Rauch said.

 

McGinnis  said  that  about  80%  of  the  funds  that  Health  Services receives goes to the partnership with a healthcare provider. Additionally,  in  email  correspondence  with  The  VanCougar,  Kelly Love, media representative for Vancouver Clinic, said the primary reason behind the termination of the contract relates to WSU Vancouver utilizing a FERPA-based system while Vancouver Clinic uses a HIPAA system.

 

“Both  WSU  Vancouver  and  Vancouver  Clinic  have  been  trying  to navigate through a compliance issue. Conversations have been ongoing,” Love said.

 

While in between providers, Health Services has put on a few health service  events  this  semester,  including  STI  testing,  COVID-19  vaccination  clinics  and  healthcare  education  events.  Upcoming  services include a COVID-19 vaccine clinic on Oct. 6 and STI testing with the Cascades AIDS project on Oct. 12.

 

“We’re trying to do as much as we can in the meantime, until we can get that health care re-established,” McGinnis said.

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