by Anonymous
Penn’s Student Health Services (SHS) claims to help students with both their physical and mental health, but its mission toward student wellness has come under much scrutiny due to accessibility issues, insurance policies, and poor mental health services.
While SHS offers an array of health services to students, these services are not as accessible as they advertise. It can take months before you can set up an appointment, and its location is far enough away from campus that many could not find it if asked. A glaring issue with its care is the fact that SHS is incredibly understaffed and booked up. It is a common occurrence that a student may need an appointment for a vaccine or even a general check-up, but SHS’ next available appointment is several weeks away. Due to the overwhelming number of students requesting medical assistance, students are often met with referrals to other in-network physicians or care facilities that are more often than not just as busy.
Some students have taken issue with Penn’s insurance requirement as well. Penn requires all students to have medical insurance, whether it be a third party that fits all of their requirements or the Penn Student Insurance Plan (PSIP), which incurs a fee of about $4000 per year. Other issues have arisen because students were required to have an insurance plan even if they were not living on campus, such as the case during the Fall 2020 semester.
Despite SHS’ issues with appointments for physical wellness, it is often overshadowed by Penn’s even worse reputation for its system of mental health services. Counseling and Psychological Services (CAPS) offers “no-appointment” drop-in services as well as individual therapy, group therapy, pharmacotherapy, and referral services. CAPS is typically just as booked as SHS physical health appointments, if not more, with a notoriously long waitlist for first-time appointments. Students in such a competitive and academically rigorous environment, like Penn, need a solid mental health support system from their school. However, it is important to acknowledge that the issue does not always lie with the services themselves. It is, again, a problem with not enough staffing, funding, and community integration of mental health awareness from Penn itself (see: Mental Health at Penn).
Another critical medical service at Penn is the Medical Emergency Response Team (MERT), which is a student-run organization that provides emergency medical services to the Penn Community. MERT, although known by the student body as aiding primarily in alcohol-related cases, helps with emergency cases of all kinds. It offers basic emergency services, including taking students to the hospital if necessary, but ambulance rides, in the past, cost upwards of $1000. Transportation is now covered by the Alternative Response Unit (ARU), but emergency room services could still be anywhere from a few dozen dollars to a few hundred depending on insurance and provided care. This could pose an accessibility issue for many First-Generation and/or Low-Income (FGLI) students or those with underlying conditions compounding Penn’s problems with ableism (see: Accessibility at Penn).
Whether it’s SHS or MERT, the main problem with medical services on campus isn’t necessarily the services themselves, but more so accessibility to said services. Most issues with services are due to understaffing and institutional issues like funding. Students shouldn’t be waiting months to receive help for symptoms of depression or to get an HPV vaccine. Everyone deserves proper support from the medical services on campus, which is why Penn should make the health of its student body a clear priority in order to create a more inclusive and uplifting Penn community, particularly for its disabled and disenfranchised students.
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