As viruses spread across campus and students find themselves bedridden, St. Liam Hall has seen an influx in students seeking out care. St. Liam Hall houses both the University Health Services (UHS) and the University Counseling Center (UCC), providing a variety of services to the students.
Karen Hasler, a case manager for UHS, supports students dealing with acute and chronic illnesses including diabetes and Crohn’s disease. In addition to the case manager position, the UHS has two behavioral health case managers to aid with mental health issues such as suicide screenings, anxiety and depression. Hasler discussed how the UHS is currently working to address the illness cases occurring on campus.
“We've seen a lot of norovirus, and it's transferred pretty easily without good hand washing. So [we tell] the students, ‘wash your hands, please,’” Hasler said. “I would tell students to wash their hands and try to get to sleep. It helps your body recover and get better.”
The UHS clinic has six providers — five doctors and one nurse practitioner specializing in women's health. Of the five doctors, three simultaneously work with the athletic teams and provide at sports events. As for services, the clinic has a lab to complete blood work and an on-site Walgreens pharmacy to provide necessary prescriptions. The second floor offers physical therapy services.
In terms of medication for students, Hasler also highlighted important University policies that determine when the UHS can administer medication to students.
“The university itself has some guidelines of when certain medications, say stimulants or things like that, [are given] closer to finals and the end of the semester,” Hasler said. “We want to be able to follow up, make sure the medicines are working appropriately and that [students] are getting the right doses that they need to help them feel better. So it's really difficult to start a medication the week of finals.”
As more students on campus look to receive care amidst the norovirus outbreak, Hasler highlighted a number of ways to address health-related issues after hours. One method for after hour help is to call TimelyCare, which provides 24/7 telehealth assistance. In addition, Hasler discussed reaching out to the UHS triage nurse.
“It's a little hard to make every appointment available because it's just a timing thing for the doctors,” Hasler said. “We also have a triage nurse, so we have a system where you can call in and tell what your symptoms are to a nurse and they can offer different suggestions for treatment or care. Then, if [the students] feel like after speaking with the nurse that they still need to be seen, or the nurse triages them and feels like they need to be seen, we have [one provider], who has specific open slots on their schedule for that day, see students that call in for the triage.”
With the triage nurse service, Hasler discussed how the clinic is working hard to implement measures to help students manage their health and learn about self-care.
“I know that the triage system has helped students learn some of the things they can do before they might need to be seen or even work with over the phone,” Hasler shared. “Yesterday, a student had his ears plugged, so we were able to get him in with the nurse and get him flushed. He didn't necessarily have to see a provider, so [the triage system] has helped with the visit.”
While the UHS focuses on the physical needs of students, the UCC at St. Liam’s concentrates on students mental needs. They provide a variety of services including workshops, a 24/7 hotline, drop-in appointments, group counseling, psychiatric services and more. Chris Conway, the director for the UCC, discussed the center’s current plans to recruit an additional psychiatrist for the students.
“Nationally, there's just a shortage of psychiatrists and we were very blessed to have a psychiatrist that worked with the counseling center for 37 years. When he retired, it was very hard to find someone to fill that position,” Conway said. “We worked to try to recruit someone last semester … we're trying to work with Memorial Beacon hospital to do some recruiting together.”
As the UCC continues to search for a new psychiatrist, Conway shared a variety of options that students can take to seek out care. There is only one psychiatrist at the moment.
“The options that students have for getting psychiatric evaluations and medication are still the Counseling Center,” Conway stated. “We sometimes refer students to primary care to the UHS, because if you're at home, a lot of the time, primary care physicians are very willing to prescribe medication for depression and anxiety. Those are the issues that we're seeing most in our students.”
Students also have the option to see a psychiatrist virtually through TimelyCare. They can be evaluated virtual through and receive a prescription following the appointment.
In addition to maximizing care for students, Conway shared about the UCC’s current plants to write a suicide prevention grant through the Substance Abuse Mental Health Services Agency (SAMHSA).
“That's a three year grant and we're working with the Center for Student Support and Care, Health Services and the Counseling Center to try to identify students who are struggling with suicidal thoughts earlier, so we can intervene and help them get better before it becomes a crisis situation. I think that's a big emphasis that we started this fall and that we will continue over the next three years while we have this grant,” Conway said.
Despite working in different service centers, both Conway and Hasler expressed a similar desire to provide the best possible care to students. Through their continual work with the student body, they hope to promote community amongst the general Notre Dame population.
“There's a lot of ways that students can be supported that don't involve needing to see a counselor,” Conway said. “The more that we create a community where we’re all supporting each other and recognize when a person's concerns rise to a level where they need a mental health professional, that student can get connected to the Counseling Center.”
Hasler expressed a similar sentiment in regards to developing a sense of community.
“We have a very dedicated staff, and I think we all work really hard to make sure the students try to feel their best and are doing their best. I personally would just love to see us be able to empower students more, to take care of themselves, and to be able to understand what's happening,” Hasler said.
