Wellness and health, concerns of Monmouth students
If a student encounters an immediate health issue or even just the flu or a common cold, hey often have to reach out to other students to get a ride to a hospital or clinic in nother town, risking students having unexcused absences in order to transport them. Also, if someone doesn’t have insurance, seeing someone to talk to about medical concerns can be a last-resort option for many students. Monmouth College Students are left to fend for themselves when it comes to medical concerns, and the offices that are supposed to provide guidance on receiving care are often not much help to the already injured.
I have heard two personal stories from students who had health concerns who visited faculty to ask for resources and were told either to call 911 or wait it out. This is a poor and unexceptable response from staff. Ambulances can cost more than a thousand dollars and students with or without insurance will not take that risk. This means that those individuals will likely not seek medical care at all and be left to deal with pain or illness alone.
Most colleges have a nurse or health/first aid center on campus. This is a necessity for an almost entirely residential campus like ours where students live in dorms and are around 24/7. At a community college where students travel to class each day, it might be acceptable not to have a nurse, but Monmouth is a small town with ery limites healthcare options in the vicinity. When it comes to minor problems, like needing to disinfect a cut or have something looked over by a professional, few students can pay the copays required to see a doctor. The bottom line is that if this is supposed to be our home, we should feel at home and be taken care of.
Another issue that arises from the lack of a campus nurse or health center is the unavailability of STD testing. STD testing is not provided by OSF, which is the closest clinic to the college and the only clinic in the City of Monmouth. Many college students are sexually active and are even encouraged by campus events to be sex-positive. This area of Illinois has a high rate of herpes and other STDs and without adequate access to testing, students will continue to get STDs, which they can’t treat without seeing a doctor. It’s a vicious cycle. There is free STD testing on April 15th in the lower level of Huff Athletic Center, and they’ll be providing pizza and condoms. Even if you just want to stop by for some pizza, please consider visiting this event so we can have more like it in the future. It will be from 5-7PM. Finding a sex-positive clinic is difficult in this area, so I encourage you to stop by and get tested.
CAROLINE KING
Contributing Writer