As students moved into Trinity for the fall semester, many were handed a flier from the Health Center. “Have a 103 fever? Severe symptoms?” the flier said. “Come to the Health Center!” The letter raised questions about potential new policy changes in Trinity’s health and wellness.
The most significant change in health policy at Trinity this year will be the requirement that students must purchase their own COVID tests, distributed from the Health Center for $10, Marcy Youngdahl, director of Health Services, noted.
“It’s partly the funding that we have available at Health Services; we have a pretty finite budget,” Youngdahl said.
The implementation of this policy coincides with a recent rise in COVID-19 cases across Texas, often clustering at college campuses.
“We’ve seen cases of COVID and other viruses over the last two days,” Youngdahl said. “And certainly in the last month, Texas and the nation has seen a resurgence of COVID. It’s looking like we’re going to follow an every two, every six months pattern with COVID cases. So, twice a year we’re going to have big spikes in COVID. And in the past few years, August and September have been a spike for Trinity. And so, I think we’re going to follow that pattern again.”
To combat the uptick in illness on campus, the Health Center has implemented cold care kits for students with non-severe illnesses to treat themselves. Sylvia Castillo, nurse supervisor, explained that the cold care kits can be picked up from the Health Center anytime, and includes masks, disposable thermometers, Tylenol, hand sanitizer, cough drops and information about respiratory illness.
“It gives them some treatment options,” Castillo said. “[The kit discusses] common symptoms, how long things take to get better, things you can take to treat your symptoms, how you prevent the spread of it and then when to seek care.”
Beyond these changes, the Health Center policy remains relatively the same as years prior. Students can still visit the clinic with any aches or pains they may have, regardless of temperature or symptoms.
“One of our goals with all of this is to really try to respect your students’ time, you know, and if they are presented with some different options, that just gives you more choice in what you should or could do,” Youngdahl said.
However, Youngdahl also made it clear that any student experiencing a health issue could come to the Health Center.
Jonathan Diaz, junior accounting major, gave further insight into what a student might experience at Health Services.
“I went and they’re really helpful,” Diaz said. He stated there were no wait times and he was able to walk in without an appointment. As a student who used the Health Center in years past, Diaz said the experience did not vary much from previous experiences.
“It was pretty similar to me. … I know they physically changed the building, but other than that, everything was smooth.”
The changes in Health Center policy were just implemented this year and student response will likely decide their effect.
