As most students walk down the basement hallway from the cafeteria toward the classroom building they pass by one of the most important offices in the entire school. It is one of the few offices that caters to every student of every major, declared or not. Students can come to find out that the Health Services office can not only save them money, but can also help them on the road to a better life.
Health Services is open from 7:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Monday through Friday. Jessica Lettow a staff nurse from the Health Services department told the Independent that they had done a trial run of having the office open later for night school students back in the spring 2008 semester. Unfortunately, very few students took advantage of the later hours, only coming in to make appointments for other days. Because of the lack of student interest, as well as the lack of staff, the trial run was concluded as unsuccessful and night hours were discontinued. However, she stated that students would soon be able to book their appointments online with an electronic system that the department is working to make available.
One of the services that Health Services provides to students is testing for common diseases. They provide chlamydia testing for free because it is one of the most prevalent sexually transmitted diseases. Free HIV testing is also provided. Pap-smears are also available for female students, which include testing for the HPV virus. If students wish to find out more about the other services offered, they can go to the Health Services site on the university’s website.
There are a few things Lettow wished more students would know about, one of them being that all registered students have full access to all of the benefits Health Services provides. Full and part time students can take advantage of these services, even if they don’t have any form of insurance.
If students have any further questions for Jessica Lettow or wish to set up an appointment, they can contact her via phone at (773) 442-5800, which provides quick feedback even after hours. Students with questions can also contact her via e-mail at health-services@neiu.edu.