The health center, via kenyon.edu

The Cox Health and Counseling Center serves as a resource on campus, providing the community with everything from flu appointments, flu shots, and counseling. The health center is touted as an important feature of campus, but does it fall under the category of overpriced American Healthcare?  We talked to health center director Kim Cullers who filled us in on the details.

Cullers noted that most students pay a health and counseling fee as a part of their tuition, so most students already paid their medical bills when they first arrived on campus. Although students are billed for certain tests, Cullers noted that the health center does its best to provide billed services at cost.

According to Cullers the health center provides care for the following:

• Sore throats, colds, mononucleosis and any other infections
• Sprains, strains and musculoskeletal injuries/conditions
• Women’s Health including pap smears, and gynecological conditions
• Rashes and skin disorders
• Cuts, lacerations, and wound care
• Treatment of warts, moles, biopsy of suspicious lesions
• Management of chronic illness
• Pre-employment physicals, off-campus study physicals, EMT physicals, and sport physicals
• Mental health counseling

Though not a comprehensive list, Cullers also provided information on what services might be billed:

• $5 for strep or mono testing
• $20 dollars for flu testing, $15 for Plan B
• $15 for birth control pills (per month)
• $16 for HIV testing
• $6 Tb testing
• $20 breathing treatment
• $5 for injection of steroid
• $35 dollars for injection of antibiotic (Rocephin)

She explained that “the cost for our vaccines are calculated on what the vaccine costs the Health Center to purchase”

• Meningitis vaccine ($115)
• Hepatitis B Vaccine ($45)
• HPV vaccine ($90)
• Tetanus Vaccine with Pertussis ($45)
• Flu Vaccine ($15)

The health center can also help students get prescription medications, for which they bill at cost.

For STD testing, Cullers had this to say:

STD testing can be quite expensive if the student is not symptomatic or having any problems. If a student “wants tested for everything” but has no symptoms or encounter of concern, the cost can be as high as 300 dollars or as low as 16 dollars, depending on what tests the student wants. We try to negotiate with our lab to get the best possible rates and have sponsored free clinics this semester with the Knox County Health Department to offer free testing.

So if you need medical attention or counseling, or need that prescription filled, stop by the health center. If you are worried about costs, Cullers says “if a student has ANY problems with paying for our services or needs meds/testing/etc that is cost prohibitive, we will work with them and have some other options to cover expenses!”