For those who’ve spent more than a semester at St. Bonaventure University as faculty or as a student, there always comes a point in time where it seems as though everybody on campus is getting sick. This concept has garnished an unfortunate and exaggerated nickname amongst the students: “The Bona Plague.” To be clear, while students get sick when the seasons change and the temperature drops, the people who make up the campus have never fallen victim of an actual plague.
“We just call it the Bona Bug,” said Christopher Anderson, director of the Wellness Center. “We get reports sent out from the health department routinely that gives us an update and, like, the number of flu cases that are reported…we’re starting to see it go up because we’re getting into the change of seasons, things are getting colder, people stay inside. So, yeah, we’re seeing an increase and that’s typical, but then once the winter really sets in is when we see the highest peak in the flu reporting.”
“I get sick pretty often up here just because of the weather changes,” said Brendan Fischer, a senior history major at St. Bonaventure. “But I think that’s every student. Every student kind of lives through head colds and sinus infections and everything throughout the winter just because it’s so cold and the weather’s so bad.”
When students get sick, the viruses and symptoms they accumulate vary. Therefore, many of them require antibiotics. The Wellness Center can make those accommodations both on and off campus.
“We get folks that come in that might need to go on antibiotics and we have a limited supply here on campus that our doctor can then dispense,” said Anderson. “If there [are] other things that we can’t keep on campus, then our doctor would then e-prescribe [at a local pharmacy] and the student can get it from one of the pharmacies.”
For the few that come down with something serious, the university has the ability to send students to urgent care.
“We always have the option of sending students to urgent care, and we keep a supply of pre-paid taxi vouchers which are good for a round trip,” said Anderson. “So, if a student doesn’t have transportation or needs any kind of assistance getting to another doctor, another provider [or] urgent care, then we can provide that transportation. So, the students here are never without care.”
The Wellness Center will always be there to address medical issues, big or small, for St. Bonaventure Students. The staff will, however, like any doctor’s office or urgent care, prioritize serious medical issues first.
“It’s all going to depend,” said Anderson. “We’ll get people in. If the doctor says ‘well, here’s somebody who really needs me, we need to get them in right away,’ the doctor will decide if somebody needs to be seen ahead of some other people due to the nature of the illnesses that they’re presenting…most of the time, we can get people in on the same day [that they ask for an appointment].”
Like everything else, the Wellness Center will have its ebbs and flows throughout the semester. However, Anderson believes there is one thing about St. Bonaventure’s Wellness Center that sets it apart.
“The nice thing is, we’ve got a provider right on campus. You won’t find that anywhere else. Once you’re in the real world, and you’ve got to actually make an appointment with your doctor, it’s not just as easy as walking on over to go see [the campus] doctor.”
Jared Leve, News Editor
levejl16@bonaventure.edu
