Jackson Holtkamp had a sore throat, but the Campus Health Clinic couldn’t help him. The vocal performance junior called the clinic for an appointment, but was told he couldn’t be seen for two days.
Holtkamp posted on the OCU Facebook page, saying he was frustrated because he needed a doctor’s note to miss class that day and didn’t want to spread whatever he had.
Clinic officials recommended Holtkamp go to an urgent care, where he tested positive for strep throat.
“For me, that works, but I found that to be kind of frustrating because a lot of people don’t have great insurance and those urgent care clinics can be so expensive,” Holtkamp said.
It was not the first time Holtkamp was turned away from the Campus Health Clinic, and he said he hears other students complain about it too.
“At the bare minimum there needs to be a provider available at the clinic during all of the hours that it’s open,” Holtkamp said. “A lot of the students pay for their insurance through the school, so it’s kind of ridiculous.”
Holtkamp isn’t the only student who’s been turned away from the campus clinic. The clinic has undergone many changes since May 2018, said Tanja Pittman, director of campus health.
Pittman became director in May 2018 after Dr. Daniel McNeill, former director of the Physician Assistant program, left the university. Since then, the clinic updated its medical records system, added new positions and changed its billing company. The clinic also lost a supervising physician during that time, a position officials hope to fill soon.
To address student needs, clinic officials implemented a new “on call” service. If someone in the clinic can’t see a student within 24 hours, the office manager calls Pittman at her full-time, off-campus job. The patient is triaged over the phone or in person, and Pittman decides whether or not the patient should be seen right away or if they can wait a day for a provider. If the student needs to be seen that day, Pittman comes to the clinic and treats the student herself, she said. If an illness is more than can be treated at the clinic, they recommend the student go to an emergency room or urgent care. Pittman treated six patients after hours in January, she said.
“We need the students to know that we’re there for them,” Pittman said. “We don’t want to turn anyone away.”
There are two full-time staff members who work in the clinic, an office manager and a nurse, but most of the clinic’s providers are volunteers.
Clinic officials can treat students with any insurance, but the clinic only gets paid for those with university insurance, said Alyson Dent, clinic office manager. Pittman said the insurance credentialing process, which clinic providers have been going through since May, is the reason there aren’t enough full-time employees in the clinic. Once the credentialing process is complete, this shouldn’t be an issue anymore, she said.
“We’re waiting on that process, so we have to limit the amount of money that goes toward this one employee that we do pay, and then we have to work around the schedules of the other providers who are volunteering their time,” Pittman said.
Pittman said the insurance credentialing issue needed to be addressed for a while. She said the change in directors was the perfect time to do it, but it has been challenging.
“We can’t cater to everyone, but we’re going to do our darndest to get everybody taken care of,” Pittman said. “I think we’ll have a lot of growth and more confidence in this area than we’ve seen before after we get through credentialing.”
Once money is coming in from insurance companies, clinic officials hope to hire more full- or part-time employees, Pittman said.
OCU owns the clinic, which falls under auxiliary services. Lori Walker, director of auxiliary services, assists Pittman with making the clinic’s services better.
“Unfortunately, when you’re running on a skeleton crew and you’re still trying to provide the same service level to students, there are going to be some pains in meeting that need, but we’re trying to meet that need as best as we can,” Walker said.
There is usually not a provider available at the clinic on Thursdays this semester, Walker said. The clinic provider schedule can be found on the OCU Facebook page.
Appointment availability is temporarily limited, so they are unable to accommodate walk-in appointments, according to okcu.edu. To schedule an appointment, students may call 405-208-5090.
Pittman said current employees deserve support through this difficult time, and the clinic as a whole will be in a much better place later this semester.
“We just need the campus community to know that we are on top of things,” she said. “I care deeply about the program.”
If students have questions, they may email Pittman at tapittman@okcu.edu.
It’s good to know that medical clinics make some money from insurance companies when they are getting fewer patients. My wife has a job at a medical clinic and she is worried that she will be let go or get paid less because people are moving away in bunches from our city. I’ll be sure to let her know that it’s possible to get money from insurance companies if she needs it.