Open house planned for April 2, 2018
Ohio State Lima students, employees and dependents will now have access to onsite healthcare in the Student Services Center on campus through the Ohio State Total Health and Wellness at Lima health center, utilizing telehealth equipment connected to the Columbus campus.
The media and interested community members are welcome to an open house to celebrate the grand opening from 11 a.m. to 12:15 p.m., Monday, April 2, 2018. A ribbon-cutting ceremony and short program will be held at 11 a.m. in the west end of the Student Services Center. Jessica Campbell, RN, will be onsite to answer questions, and the telehealth equipment will be available for demonstrations.
“Onsite healthcare adds another dimension of health and wellness to the Ohio State Lima campus,” said Interim Dean and Director Joseph Brandesky. “Our students and employees now come from more than half of the 88 counties in Ohio. Some of them drive long distances or those living near campus are a fair distance from their primary healthcare providers. The facility provides a means for them to address day-to-day health concerns.”
With Ohio State Total Health and Wellness at Lima, the Ohio State College of Nursing will offer a nurse-practitioner-led comprehensive primary-care practice as part of a pilot program that takes a telehealth approach to health and wellness.
“We are so excited to bring primary-care health services to Lima through our nurse practitioner-led facility,” said Ohio State College of Nursing Dean Bernadette Melnyk, PhD, RN, CPNP/PMHNP, FAANP, FNAP, FAAN, who also serves Ohio State as vice president for health promotion and chief wellness officer. “Our team approach to care benefits patients in many ways by focusing treatment on the whole person.”
Ohio State Total Health and Wellness at Lima offers an interprofessional team approach to integrated physical and mental healthcare for students, employees and their dependents. A registered nurse will be available on-site and a certified nurse practitioner will be accessible through a remote telecommunications system.
“Offering telehealth services gives us a wonderful opportunity to extend our primary care services and provide that team approach to healthcare,” said Candy Rinehart, DNP, FNP, ADM-BC, FAANP, executive director of Advanced Practice and Community Partnership, nurse practitioner and director of Ohio State Total Health and Wellness at Ohio State Hospitals East. “In addition to family nurse practitioners, we can access mental health nurse practitioners, pharmacists, dietitians, social workers and other providers to support total patient care. Exams and conversations will take place in real time, with our registered nurse serving as our hands in the clinic, and the nurse practitioner in Columbus providing direction for both the exam and treatment.”
The new facility will be located in the west end of the Student Services Center. Renovations to a conference room have resulted in space for an examining room, office and storage area. The state-of-the-art telehealth equipment will allow the nurse practitioner and the patient to interact much like they would in person. What the onsite registered nurse sees as she conducts an exam in Lima is instantly available to the nurse practitioner in Columbus.
Ohio State Total Health and Wellness at Lima will be open 15 hours a week. Services will include health and wellness screenings, education and vaccines, physical exams, evidence-based management of new health problems or complaints, contraception counseling and management, integration of mental health services to complement Ohio State Lima’s Counseling and Consultation Services and healthy lifestyle programs. Patients are seen by appointment only. Please call 567-242-6546 to schedule a visit.
Ohio State Lima is the first regional campus to offer telehealth through the three-year pilot program funded and administered through the College of Nursing. Future plans call for Ohio State Total Health and Wellness facilities using telehealth technology at all of Ohio State’s regional campuses.
