After nearly a year of planning, Student Counseling & Wellness services launched mobile health services at Texas A&M University-San Antonio.
Baptist Healthy Solutions rolled onto campus bringing affordable health services for students.
The new mobile health clinic launched its first day at A&M-San Antonio on Sept. 5. The mobile clinic provides A&M-San Antonio students with health services for $10 cash co-pay. Proof of insurance is not required.
Services include women’s wellness exams, diabetes prevention and treatment, pregnancy and STI testing, sick visits (allergies, cold, fever, flu), immunizations, etc.
The clinic is equipped to treat minor medical procedures such as lacerations, sutures, and antibiotic/steroid injections.
Walk-ins are welcomed but appointments are highly suggested for students to be seen in a timely manner.
After conducting an on-campus poll, the university found that not as many students had insurance as they had thought; about 50 percent of students are not insured.
“If you look at the systems we use to track data…you would assume that the majority of students are insured,” said Rachel Lutz, director of counseling and wellness.
The gap sparked a search for the need of on-campus health services.
Because the campus lacks space, the university needed a mobile unit to provide health services for the students, Lutz said.
Baptist Healthy Solutions was one of the participants that were able to provide the need in a mobile space.
“This is self-sufficient,” said Adriana Cantu, on-site nurse practitioner. “It’s like going to your primary care office, but it’s on-site.”
The mobile clinic comes fully equipped with two examination rooms on each end and a triage located in the center of the unit ready for numerous treatments.
“Any acute symptoms, stuffy nose, colds, sore throats you can come see us,” Cantu said.
Treatments such as medications can come with an additional cost after co-pay.
“We try to utilize all the resources we have, like Wal-Mart or H-E-B that do have a $4 list of medications that is more affordable for anybody,” Cantu said.
By its second month of operation, word about the new health services has spread quickly and students have begun to use the mobile clinic.
“A friend noticed that I was sick. I told her that I didn’t have insurance and she told me, hey there is the $10 no insurance needed and sent me the flyer through text,” said Odalys Guzman, business freshmen.
First time visitors are required to fill out the appropriate consent form before their visit.
After her examination, the on-site nurse gave Guzman an injection to assist with swelling from a sore throat. After her visit, Guzman paid her $10 copay before leaving.
The first year of operations will be a good baseline assessment for the future of on-campus health services, Lutz said.
Lutz has big plans for the expansion of the mobile clinic.
She envisions counseling, health and recreation will live in one space at the university to give the students a good wrap-around to health and wellness services, including mental and physical health.
In the short-term future, Lutz hopes to see the mobile clinic getting utilized to expand hours and get the mobile clinic moved into a campus building.
“Having a building location will make it easier for wellness exams, lab work, and increase the volume of immunizations,” Lutz said. “It’s important for the Student Counseling & Wellness services to hear the voices of the students.”
To better improve the on-campus health services, Lutz asks for student feedback about their mobile clinic visit.
For further information or to submit feedback about your mobile clinic visit contact Student Counseling & Wellness Services at (210) 784-1331 or StuCounseling@tamusa.edu
The mobile clinic will run the following hours for the 2017-2018 academic year: Tuesday 12 p.m. -5 p.m., Wednesday 8 a.m.-12 p.m., and Thursday 11a.m.- 5 p.m. located behind the Central Academic Building (CAB). To make an appointment, call: (210) 229-2288, option 2.
