Lindenwood’s Student Health Clinic is changing its healthcare providers from Barnes Jewish Care to Mercy Healthcare to provide students added on-campus health services with the Clinic scheduled to open for the spring semester on Jan. 17.
Heather Black, the Assistant Vice President of Student Affairs, mentioned that most aspects will remain the same on the health clinic side of things, with a few differences in services.
Health clinic changes:
- Students must present insurance when seen on campus.
- Lindenwood will pay for students’ copays when seen at the Health Clinic.
- Online appointment scheduling.
- Courier options for delivering medications to campus.
- Psychiatric Nurse Practitioner.
Black said the most significant change in the Health Clinic is that students must present their insurance when they are seen by a healthcare provider on campus, and Lindenwood will cover the copay. This applies to students with both Lindenwood’s insurance and their own.
“This is our first time dealing with insurance, so I’m sure we’re gonna learn some things and maybe make some adjustments,” Black said. “What I would do is encourage students to come over if they have something they feel maybe didn’t go like they thought it would. They can come talk to me, and I will look into it and make sure we adjust as we move forward.”
Black mentioned that students could still be asked to pay for services outside the clinic’s scope, similar to before. This includes any time that the Health Clinic needs to send something out or bring something on campus, such as prescription medications.
Black stated that the big expansion will be when Lindenwood adds an in-house Psychiatric Nurse Practitioner to prescribe medications for mental health and provide support. These services will be by referral only.
“This person isn’t there full time; we get them for a few hours each week, but that will be a huge shift in being able to provide in-person care that sometimes we have to refer out,” Black said. “Our counseling staff has started to meet with them just recently to understand what that will look like and what referrals will look like, so we’re excited about that piece because mental health is something that we do really need more support for and continued support for, and we continue to expand in that way.”
Black said that the Health Center’s current Nurse Practitioner and many medical assistants began new positions with Mercy Healthcare in order to continue providing care for Lindenwood students.
“I think the added benefit of us moving in this direction is that there are so many Mercy sites near us, so there could be some opportunity in the future related to some of the other Urgent Cares that are nearby that we could potentially start to expand that care a little bit, but nothing specific at this point,” Black said.
Black also said that students will be able to find available services by visiting the website once it is updated. Once the site is updated, students will receive an email directing them to the information.
“Don’t be afraid to ask questions because that’s the only way for us to improve it too because we, with all transitions, are going to discover something we didn’t think of, and that’s just naturally part of the process,” Black said. “So, speak up if you think we missed something so we can handle it and try to figure out a way to solve it and ensure students are getting the services they need.”
