The Los Rios District has partnered with Campus.Health by TimelyMD to provide free, around-the-clock care for students with medical or mental health concerns via a web-enabled device, according to the Los Rios Community College District.
This resource is accessible to all students that are a part of the Los Rios Health Services Program. For those who are in the program, the fees will be covered by the Health Services Fee students pay per semester.
“The best way to access it is to go to the Cosumnes River College website and you go to Health and Services, it’s under Health and Safety and the information to sign on is all right there,” said College Nurse Michelle Barkley.
The process is fairly simple and gives options as to whether or not the student would like to chat over a video or phone call.
Eva Rhodes, counseling supervisor at CRC, explained how students have to register with their Los Rios Gmail address to access the resource.
This has been a district-wide effort since remote learning began.
The Los Rios District has been pushing for this to become a reality.
“We needed to find a way to get services to students especially since they are paying a health fee,” said Barkley.
Others involved include, but are not limited to: college nurses, counselors, college success professors, and any other professor that chooses to inform students about this key material.
Mental health and medical health are two topics that trouble many students, making a free of charge visit with a provider, when using your school code, accessible.
For CRC, the code is CRC2020 and it will automatically drop the charge from $79 to $0.
Naomi Bahm, a psychology professor at CRC, explained how because people are experiencing higher volumes of stress, anxiety, depression, and more, it can be overwhelming and actually affect a student’s physical health.
According to the Mental Health Foundation, “Poor physical health can lead to an increased risk of developing mental health problems. Similarly, poor mental health can negatively impact on physical health, leading to an increased risk of some conditions.”
Counselor Christopher Torres explained strategies he teaches his students to combat mental health issues.
“[Students] have to help their family members and then they have these responsibilities for school, compounded with responsibilities for work as well, and the students just allow this to pile onto each other,” said Torres. “A lot of times they don’t have the mechanisms, methods, tools for time management, prioritizing, goal setting, and it has taken a toll on students’ mental health.”
Anna Domek, CRC adjunct counselor, shared her experience with mobile appointments.
“Especially in this pandemic, I’ve found it super helpful to have these tele appointments, phone appointments, anything where you can access medical care without always having to go in and potentially risk your situation,” said Domek.