Lydia Glenn

News Editor

lmg5921@psu.edu

The Health and Wellness Center at Penn State Behrend is “committed to delivering the highest quality of health services which include prevention, promotion and medical care for all students, faculty and staff.” 

The Health and Wellness Center is also devoted to keeping patient health confidential to achieve a level of trust and satisfaction with patients. They also uphold that they treat “the whole person, mind, body and spirit.” 

Their mission includes three distinct objectives: 

• Render invaluable medical services in an atmosphere of respect to the entire campus community
• Increase student knowledge by promoting positive healthy lifestyle choices through educational programs and outreach events
• Maintain prevailing knowledge of evolving medical trends and respond with quality treatment and education 

The health services provided by the center include a medicine clinic, laboratory services and medications. 

The medicine clinic provides evaluation and treatment for conditions that are non life threatening or an emergency. They treat such conditions like the flu, sports injuries, rashes, more. They can also perform physicals for various needs. 

Laboratory services are available to any student who is being treated by the Health and Wellness Center. This service provides on site lab services for blood draws, Strep A, Mono spot, urinalysis, pregnancy testing, glucose and hemoglobin. They also offer confidential HIV testing. 

For any medication needs, the Health and Wellness Center has a variety of prescription and non-prescription medications that may be purchased on site. They also provide written prescriptions to students who wish to use their prescriptive insurance card at a local pharmacy. 

The Health and Wellness Center provides Verification of Illness forms for serious illnesses or injuries. The center does not provide class excuses for routine illnesses such as a cold or flu, but can provide the Verification of Illness form for anyone with a significant or prolonged injury or illness. 

Allergy injections are also offered for anyone who has a written prescription from their health care provider. 

The center also offers a large number of immunizations for anyone who may need one. One must fill out the Immunization Compliance form before getting immunized. The form can be found on the Penn State Behrend website under the Health and Wellness tab. Required immunizations for students are measles, mumps, rubella (MMR) and meningococcal, which are required if living on campus. Both vaccinations are offered through the Health and Wellness center. Highly recommended immunizations are COVID 19, Flu, Meningococcal, Varicella, Tetanus-Diphtheria-Pertussis, Hepatitis B, Hepatitis A, Human Papilloma Virus and the pneumococcal vaccine. These are also offered by the center, and an appointment can be made to get one. 

Men’s health services are offered as well and this includes annual exams, contraception options, free testing for STDs and sexual assault services. To learn more about what is offered for male students on campus, one can visit the Health and Wellness website: https://behrend.psu.edu/student-life/student-services/health 

Women’s health services are also an option for students. Health services can perform annual exams, inform patients about contraception options, and provide free testing for STDs, gynecological services and sexual assault services. 

LGBTQ+ health services is another offered service of the Health and Wellness center. Penn State Behrend “strives to provide high quality health care in an environment of inclusivity and respect.” Penn State prides itself in its inclusivity of services for males, females, nonbinary identifying people and etc. Their resources for LGBTQ+ identifying students and staff include: 

• Greater Erie Alliance for Equality
• Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Health
• Gay Men’s Health Crisis
• Anti-Violence Project
• AIDS info
• HIV InSite
• National Minority AIDS Council

To make an appointment at Health and Wellness services: 

• You can use the online appointment system called Starfish which can be accessed through the Health and Wellness website
• Call 814-898-6217 during regular hours: Monday 10 a.m. to 7 p.m., Tuesday Wednesday Thursday 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., and Friday 9:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. 
• Call ahead or walk in if you have a serious injury which requires immediate attention
• If you are in serious need of medical attention please call 911 or go to the nearest hospital