When a student walks through IU Health Center’s sliding glass doors, they are met with a stop sign, hand sanitizer and a pile of masks. Behind the stop sign are two women ready to help. They welcome students with their smiles and quick wit.
The IU Health Center is located at 1809 S Main St, Suite 100 Upland, IN 46989, across from Samuel Morris Hall. For many years, they have provided health care for TU students.
IU Health Center offers allergy injections and storage, vaccine administration, wound care, blood pressure screening, Strep A Rapid testing and more. The rest of their services can be found under the Health Center tab under Taylor.edu’s “Life at Taylor” menu. Additional services, including laboratory services and TB and COVID testing, are billed to private insurances.
Nurse practitioners ask that students call 911 for any medical emergency like broken bones or stitches. They do provide crutches, bandages and other resources commonly used by athletes.
Upland Family Pharmacy resides inside the IU Health Center’s building. Students can find over-the-counter medicine, lotions, cold and flu medication and even chocolate at the pharmacy.
“I'm able to get my meds within the same building as where I saw my doctor,” senior Megan Metzger said. “You can also pick up over-the-counter stuff as well, so if you’re running out of stuff and you need it, it's available. Even with your insurance, it's super affordable to get the meds that you need. I think students should definitely take advantage of it and use it while they're here.”
While not connected to IU Health, Upland Family Pharmacy is close and convenient.
Nurse practitioners Jennifer Bosley and Christa Yeakle care for Taylor students specifically. They take scheduled visitors. Ten time slots are available to Taylor students from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday. Students can schedule a visit over the phone at 765-998-8072 or online at Taylor.edu.
“Everybody, take your temperatures,” Vanessa Luttman, supervisor (of) practice operations at Primary Care Upland, said. “Wash your hands. When you guys call over here, be as detailed as possible, because the details – that's where we're going to get the information of ‘maybe you shouldn't see us. You should go to the ER’ or ‘yeah, that sounds like a rash.’ The more detail you can give our phone staff or scheduling or triage nurse, the quicker we're going to be able to help. It's all in the details.”
For needs outside of regular work hours, IU Health offers virtual visits from 6 a.m. to 11 p.m. seven days a week. Students can schedule an appointment by going to IUhealth.org and searching for virtual visits.
Craig Cochran, director of the counseling center, is also ready to answer questions and concerns.
“I like the opportunity to be able to come alongside somebody who's in that vulnerable (situation) – they're sick, they're not feeling well – and to be able to make sure that they're getting good quality services with the least amount of challenges,” Cochran said.
With his own kids in college, Cochran said he felt peace in knowing his children were being taken care of even when they were far from home. He wanted to give other parents and students that same peace and comfort by providing good health care services.
Metzger has been to the Health Center multiple times. Most recently, she had an allergic reaction to peanuts. Metzger scheduled an appointment online and worked with IU Health to get set up with the right nurse practitioner.
The IU Health staff are ready to help. Luttman loves helping people. Her dad was a pastor and she grew up with that mindset of helping people. She has been in healthcare for 20 years and at IU Health for two. She takes care of her staff, making sure they can offer great services because they are well taken care of.
“Because I'm a supervisor, I try to take care of my staff first,” Luttman said. “My staff means the world to me. They mean the world to me because the better that they are treated and kept, the better they're going to serve our patients.”
Whether a student needs over the counter meds, an appointment or maybe a chocolate bar, they can walk across the street to see these ladies at the IU health center. They are happy to help and remind students to wash their hands.
