BODY AND MIND: SOUTHEAST MISSOURI STATE UNIVERSITY'S CENTER FOR HEALTH AND COUNSELING TREATS THOUSANDS OF STUDENTS EACH YEAR

Susan J. Smith, left, a nurse clinician, provided first aid to Becky Tafra who suffered a bee sting.

Megan Kastner sat in an examining room in Southeast Missouri State University's Center for Health and Counseling, nursing a sore throat.

"This is my second time in a month and a half," she said as a nursing student prepared to get a throat culture to determine if she had Strep throat.

Kastner, a freshman from Morton, Ill., said the walk-in center is far more convenient than trying to get an appointment at one of the doctors' offices in town.

The majority of nursing and counseling services are also free to students. Students are charged for some medications and must pay the cost for any off-campus medical care.

"Mostly what we do is decide if they need to see a doctor," said Sallie Loos, one of three registered nurses at the center and the facility's assistant director.

Sore throats, colds, sprains and strains are common ailments seen at the center, Loos said.

The nurses can't prescribe antibiotics and other prescription medicines. The center does dispense some over-the-counter medications.

The university hopes to hire a nurse practitioner later this year. Such an individual could prescribe medicine.

Nestled in a corner of the Crisp Hall of Nursing, the center is seldom noticed by the general public.

But both resident and commuter students know where it is and use it.

"We enjoy a pretty good reputation on campus," said Judy St. John, the center's director. "They understand we are there for them."

In the fall of 1994, the center saw 1,783 students. In the spring of 1995, 1,514 students sought medical treatment or counseling at the center.

Many of the students made more than one visit to the health center. Student visits totaled nearly 7,000 in those two semesters.

For the entire 1995 fiscal year, health services saw 8,467 students, staff and campus visitors for injuries, illnesses, testing and advice.

The center's four regular counselors and its graduate-student counselors had 1,952 counseling sessions involving a total of 380 students.

Female students are the biggest users of the center, totaling about 65 percent of the facility's patients.

Loos said the female-male ratio is typical of university health centers nationwide.

The health center has provided free testing of students for sexually transmitted diseases since September 1991.

In fiscal 1994, more than 1,000 tests were done, including AIDS tests. In fiscal 1995, 735 tests were submitted to the Missouri Department of Public Health and only 19 of those were positive.

Two hundred twenty-five students and staff came in for pregnancy tests in 1994-95. Forty-two of them tested positive.

The health center distributed about 23,000 condoms that year.

The university spends about $200,000 a year to operate the Center for Health and Counseling.

The center has a nine-member staff, plus a number of student workers. It operates from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday through Friday.

Loos said the center plans to offer evening hours this fall when the university starts up its night school.

The center has expanded its services over the years. It sponsors a variety of health programs, including blood pressure clinics and substance abuse prevention.

Southeast has a crisis response team that responds to campus emergencies, such as if a student is threatening to commit suicide.

The center has been in Crisp Hall since August 1988.

Over the years, the school's health services moved around a lot. At one time, it was in Academic Hall. It later was shuttled from house to house on campus.

St. John recalled that counselors at one time had to handle academic advising, too.

Health services have a long history at Southeast. In the 1930s, the school employed a nurse full time and a doctor part time.

The Board of Regents designated 50 cents of each student's fees for a hospitalization plan to cover seven days of hospital costs.

Both Cape Girardeau hospitals participated in the program, with room rates of $2.50 for semi-private and $3.50 for private rooms.

In 1937, the teachers college required each student to have a physical exam. In 1939, the regents mandated that all students must show they had received smallpox vaccinations.

Over the years, the university worked with a number of local doctors to provide medical care to students and paid at least part of the bill for such care.

But since the fall of 1977, Southeast's students have had to pay their own doctors' bills.

Loos and St. John said the center's expanded services have resulted in more students and staff using the center.

"The demand is there," said Loos.