Health Services update for September 25

Mark Parisi, director of counseling and health services at Saint Rose, sent the following weekly COVID-19 update to students and employees on September 25.

Dear Students,

At the time of my writing this message to you, we do not have any positive COVID-19 cases to report. We also have not found new infections as a result of anyone having had contact with the one positive student case we reported previously.

Once again, we have evidence of our campus community’s ability to limit the spread of this virus through the consistent application of proven safety measures. It is only through your hard work as concerned, socially responsible students of our campus and citizens of the larger community that we have been able to accomplish the tremendous task of keeping everyone safe. We are extremely grateful for all of your efforts! Keep up the great work!

As a reminder, you can find a current tally of positive COVID-19 cases on campus by viewing our COVID-19 Dashboard. It will be updated as new cases are reported.

You can view the data for the Capital Region (and by county) on the New York State Department of Health’s COVID-19 dashboard. The Capital Region continues to demonstrate effective efforts to limit the transmission of the virus. Let us continue to do our part to protect our campus and the surrounding community by following best practices!

A key to staying healthy has always been proper handwashing. The CDC has a helpful webpage explaining the correct way to wash hands as well as how sanitizer should be used when handwashing may not be possible.

Please join the Counseling and Health Services staff in welcoming our new nurse practitioner, Karen Wesselhoeft, FNP-BC. Karen started in Health Services just last week and is very excited to be working with our students! Having two nurse practitioners available to treat our students will allow us to expand our clinic hours to better accommodate our students’ current health care needs during the pandemic. Look for information about the new hours in upcoming In the Know updates!

Testing for COVID-19: COVID-19 testing is available through Health Services, and you should call 518.454.5244 or email healthservices@strose.edu if you are seeking testing.

Treatment at Health Services: For any nonurgent medical issue, students can call 518.454.5244 or email healthservices@strose.edu for assistance, and their cases will be triaged by our LPN or nurse practitioner. Based on the presenting concerns, the triage outcome may lead to a telehealth appointment with the nurse practitioner.

Treatment at the Counseling & Psychological Services Center: Students may be experiencing emotional distress in response to the impact of the pandemic on our daily lives in addition to simply adjusting to college life again. Please call our center at 518.454.5200 or email us at counseling@strose.edu to speak with a counselor through a phone or Zoom session.

Staying healthy: We are entering the influenza season, so you may have symptoms of illness that are not COVID-19. Look for our upcoming flu clinic and get vaccinated! We’ll put the word out as soon as we have details.

You can find the most current COVID-19 information on the CDC’s COVID-19 webpage. In addition, you can always call the New York State Department of Health Novel Coronavirus Hotline at 888.364.3065 and ask any question you have regarding COVID-19.

As always, if you have any concerns or questions, please contact the College’s Health Services at 518.454.5244 or healthservices@strose.edu.

Sincerely,

Mark Parisi
Director of Counseling and Health Services