ASAP Clinic provides care for students with urgent medical needs
The ASAP Clinic is a walk-in urgent care health clinic on the third floor of the Ashe Center. It opened due to complaints of overcrowding from Ashe Center patients.(Miriam Bribiesca/Photo editor)
By Brianna Campbell
Sept. 16, 2016 2:51 p.m.
An Ashe Center urgent care clinic that opened in spring has received positive feedback from students.
Since its opening in late March, the ASAP Clinic has had more than 4,000 visits from students, said June Hu, data and applications manager for the Ashe Center.
Registered nurse Jennifer Blank said the Ashe Center opened the ASAP Clinic because they received complaints of overcrowding from patients.
The walk-in clinic, located on the third floor of the Ashe Center, serves students who have emergency health problems and who are not able to make an appointment at least one to two business days in advance, said Sam Elias, an Ashe Center associate medical director.
Blank said students should use the clinic if they are suffering from things like a fever, hemorrhaging, a severe sore throat or cough.
“We really encourage students to get established with a primary care doctor that they know well,” Elias said. “However, for those times when they are not able to connect with their doctor, that is where the ASAP Clinic comes in handy.”
The clinic worked with about 20 to 30 patients daily over the summer, and more students use the clinic during the school year, Blank said.
ASAP clinicians treat patients with more urgent health issues first, but the team of 20 doctors and nurses try their best to accommodate everyone, Blank said. The new clinic allows for more efficiency and allows them to distinguish between patients who need urgent care and those who don’t, she added.
Previously, the Ashe Center had to prioritize those with the most urgent health needs, because clinicians have different schedules and can’t accommodate all students, Blank said.
Darshika Kumar a second-year psychobiology student said she thinks the ASAP Clinic is convenient for students because they won’t have to go to urgent care at a different hospital for emergencies.
Mindi Cao, a second-year undeclared student, said she thinks making an appointment at the Ashe Center can be too much of a hassle and avoids it if she can, handling minor health problems at home. But Cao said she would feel more comfortable going to the Ashe Center now that the ASAP Clinic provides quicker help.
The ASAP Clinic is open Monday through Thursday, from 8:45 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., and Fridays from 9:15 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
Contributing reports from Jo Huang, Daily Bruin contributor.
