Ivy Tech drops some barriers
Free immunizations, waived fees make Health Services programs more accessible
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They called it a health fair, but it was actually a shot in the arm — literally and figuratively — for dozens of students in Health Services programs at Ivy Tech Community College in Kokomo. On Aug. 22, administrators, faculty, and staff joined with the Howard County Health Department and NIPSCO to offer a boatload of free services that effectively removed significant barriers to education.
According to Tammy Greene, Dean of the School of Health Sciences at Ivy Tech, the health fair was designed to provide students with everything they need to move forward through the school’s educational programs; things that aren’t included on a syllabus or covered by tuition.
The school set up stations throughout the Health Services building on the Kokomo campus, with each handling a need the students struggle to meet. From immunizations and tuberculosis tests to physicals and various paperwork requirements, the school provided it all with the aid of the Howard County Health Department and funding from NIPSCO.
"We're giving TB tests and physicals today at no cost to the students, and it's covered by NIPSCO," said Greene. "They're footing the bill for all of it. We're hoping this will eliminate a lot of the barriers, both the financial and the time."
Greene explained that services offered at the fair are required for the students to commence clinical training. They constitute a hidden cost in terms of money and time that had been overlooked as a barrier. But it took a little hands-on experience to determine just how difficult these things made it to attain the future the students sought.
"This came about because I wanted to know what the process was like for our students," said Greene. "We do lose students because of this. They can't afford to get all this done. Or they don't have time to get all this done.
"I was wondering what is it really like? So, I went through our CNA program just like a student, and discovered, yeah, it really is a challenge to get all of this done, and it's very expensive to get all of this done. And so here we are."
To take advantage of the health fair, the students had to be enrolled in either Ivy Tech's nursing program or any of its other health science programs, such as dental assisting, surgical technology, and paramedic training.
As of 9 a.m. on Aug. 22, there were 39 students pre-registered for the fair, but administrators already had seen more students than those registered before the first hour of the event had elapsed. By the time the fair concluded, more than 50 students took advantage of the assistance.