FIRST RESPONDERS

Student Health Center staff found themselves at the forefront of the pandemic’s impact on UNCW.

By Venita Jenkins

UNCW Student Health Center staff constantly prepares for the possibility of a regional or national pandemic, but the impact of COVID-19 was something they never imagined.

“I never dreamed that a pandemic would bring the world to a stop,” said Katrin Wesner-Harts ’16 Ed.D., director of the Abrons Student Health Center. “I knew that travel and activities would be disrupted, but I don’t think I pictured it in such a global way.”

As the new coronavirus spread overseas, UNCW health officials took steps to minimize the impact on campus. In early January, the student health center staff began monitoring coronavirus through information from the World Health Organization and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. They led conversations with university officials about the campus response and provided information to students and faculty studying or conducting research in countries that reported a high number of cases.

Health center staff helped students and faculty evaluate their travel plans and understand quarantine protocols. “We were helping people do a risk assessment,” said Wesner-Harts. “I see our role very much as providing a advice or guidance and helping people find the answers they need to make decisions.”

About 180 students, a majority of study abroad participants, and a few faculty and staff members self-quarantined. Student health staff members were assigned a caseload of 30 individuals to monitor each day during the quarantine.

UNCW Medical Director Dr. Walter Laughlin assisted in developing protocols for the Student Health Center’s response to students presenting with symptoms or concerns about COVID-19. He was also responsible for staying updated on the medical literature and guidance from the CDC, the NC Department of Health and Human Services, the county health department and New Hanover Regional Medical Center.

The unknown factors and the ease in which the coronavirus transmitted from person-to-person prompted university leaders to shift to online and alternative teaching in March to help stem the potential spread of COVID-19. The Student Health Center followed suit, transitioning to telephone or video methods of providing health care services for students. It was difficult for the campus to change course in the middle of the semester, said Wesner-Harts.

Abrons Student Health Center Director Katrin Wesner-Harts, center, stands with her staff on campus.

“The biggest challenge right now is the reopening plan, not only at UNCW, but everywhere. It’s much more complicated than just saying ‘we’re going to reopen,’” she said. “Every decision comes with many different layers. That makes it even harder.”

The goal of her staff is to help reduce the risk when students return to campus, she said. Mitigation steps include asking the campus community to wear masks, to social distance and to host meetings or events virtually rather than in person.

“We want to create a culture that supports personal responsibility for community health and safety. This is going to take all of us,” Wesner-Harts said. “This will affect our learning, teaching and working environments, and we all have to play a part.”

An important part of the Student Health Center’s role is to help students take charge of their health, whether it’s a lack of sleep or addressing issues involving mental health. “We want to make sure whatever happens in the fall, we can provide services to all of our students so that they can be successful,” she added. “Whatever the fall looks like, we are trying to be flexible and nimble. We’re all hopeful things will return a little bit closer to normal.”

According to Wesner-Harts, the hardest challenge for the health center staff has been the evolving nature of the pandemic. Directions from the country’s leading health officials on how to mitigate COVID-19 have evolved in real time due to unknown factors about the virus.

“Those of us in healthcare, we’ve planned for this, we’ve trained for this,” said Wesner-Harts. “We knew this was coming one day. It doesn’t make it any easier. Lots of things we’ve done over the past few years, even how we responded to Hurricane Florence, have helped us with how we responded to COVID-19.”