Coronavirus Update for March 18: WWU Student Health Center

The Student Health Center at Western serves current students on the Bellingham campus. Our small outpatient clinic, which is funded through student fees, does not accept community members or Western employees as patients. The Student Health Center can not provide COVID-19 testing to the community. Test capacity is still severely limited in our region, and we are using them in accordance with CDC recommendations for only students at the highest risk. The ability to perform tests depends on the availability of a lab, availability of specimen collection materials (swab and viral transport media), and availability of appropriate Personal Protective Equipment to collect and package specimens safely. We are actively seeking greater test capacity for our student population.

Please share this information as broadly as you can. It is safest for people who are not ill to stay home right now, especially people with increased vulnerability to COVID-19. Community members who are worried about their symptoms should call their primary care provider for advice. It is also important that we all call before we go to a health care facility, so that we are not exposed, and don’t expose others, to any illness unnecessarily.

We have a great opportunity to lessen the impact of this illness on our community. Let’s flatten the curve, preserve health care resources for those who need them most, and take care of each other.

With appreciation for your partnership,

Melynda Huskey

Vice President for Enrollment and Student Services

The Incident Command System team at Western has established three goals for all of our preparation and response to COVID-19:  to protect life safety and minimize the spread of the coronavirus illness, to maintain – as much as possible – the continuity of Western’s operations, and to communicate with our communities as fully as possible.

Western's coronavirus information website features Frequently Asked Questions; has links to campus, regional and national resources; an archive of campus messaging and media stories about coronavirus; a new toll-free campus coronavirus information line, and more. The site is a living document, and will get frequent updates as the coronavirus situation evolves.