The Campus Health Center (CHC) is a full-service primary care clinic that serves all currently enrolled Wayne State University (WSU) students. CHC has always been an academic, nurse-managed clinic that is owned and operated by Nursing Practice Corporation (NPC), the faculty practice plan of the College of Nursing (CON) at WSU.
Though Wayne State University was founded in 1868, it was a commuter-school and did not house its own residence halls. As Wayne State University evolved into offering on-campus living, a need was established in the early 2000s for a clinic on campus.
Brief CHC History Overview:
2005
In 2005, CHC began as a pilot project to serve students living on campus. At this time, CHC was located in the South Hall—now known as Atchison Hall—and consisted of only one nurse practitioner, one medical assistant, and several small examination rooms.
2006
Having seen incredible success, CHC moved into its current location at 5200 Anthony Wayne Drive, Suite 115 in the Helen DeRoy Apartment Building. At the time, there were four exam rooms and over five staff members.
2009
Nursing Practice Corporation (NPC), the Faculty Practice Plan of the CON at WSU, took over management of CHC, and CHC became a year-round academic, nurse-managed clinic.
CHC expanded to include eight exam rooms and additional staff.
2010
CHC expanded further to include mental health nurse practitioners. CHC continued to offer mental health services until mid-2011.
2011
CHC expanded to the second floor. This new space allowed for additional administrative offices, meeting rooms, and office space for more therapeutic mental health services. The first floor was reorganized to offer seven exam rooms, a designated space for in-house lab testing, and room to triage patients. CHC employs several nurse practitioners, two medical assistants, a consulting physician, three front office coordinators, and a director of business operations.
2012
CHC staff expanded to include a registered nurse, public health nurse, and marketing and outreach staff; it was also able to hire a dietician through the Health Resources and Services Administration section of the Nurse Education Practice Quality and Retention Grant for Interprofessional Collaborative Practice.
After completion of the grant, CHC continued to offer dietetic services to WSU students.
2015-2018
Over the past several years, CHC increased its outreach events on campus, attending orientations and fairs and providing outreach clinics for flu shots and STI testing. As a result, in 2014/2015 (and each consecutive year thereafter), the Campus Health Center won the Highest Immunization Coverage Levels among Medium Sized Institutions award from the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services College/University Flu Vaccination Challenge. In 2018, CHC launched a university-wide handwashing campaign and began providing some services to WSU faculty/staff/employees.
2019-Present
The Campus Health Center opened its doors to a new, state-of-the-art facility, enhancing nursing student education and experiential learning in 2019. It expanded health care services to the Wayne State community, and features optimal patient flow, a spacious waiting room, 10 functional exam rooms, a patient interview/triage room, a treatment room, and a centralized nursing station.
Annually, CHC schedules nearly 10,000 appointments, offers clinical learning opportunities to over 200 students, holds approximately 100 outreach clinics in more than 15 buildings, and reaches countless students at 50 health programming events across campus.
In 2020, CHC began offering Tele-health (phone) and Tele-medicine (video) appointments and developed virtual health programs.