On the campus of the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, a walk-in health clinic operated by Campus Health opened just in time for a new school year. Open 9AM to 4:30PM Monday through Friday, students can access care at the “mini” clinic for mild illness, injury or infection for $30 per visit. Another separate clinic on the campus offers same-day care for more acute concerns, primary care, gynecology, and sports medicine with points of access to pharmacy services. “Because respiratory and other viruses can spread quickly through a campus environment, shifting episodic test-and-treat services outside of the larger student health facility to an on-demand, readily accessible clinic frees the larger student health facility to focus more on chronic and complex health needs,” says Alan Ayers, President of Urgent Care Consultants and Senior Editor of JUCM: The Journal of Urgent Care Medicine. On some large campuses with academic medical centers, student health services and emergency services may be available 24/7.
It’s good to be well: “The scope of student health varies significantly by campus from low-touch ‘triage medicine’ staffed by a nurse who refers students to community providers, to a full scope of primary care, women’s health, dental services, behavioral health, and even pharmacy,” Ayers says.