At Wednesday’s ASWSU meeting, senators heard from administration at Cougar Health Services regarding medical services and mental health services at WSU.

The senators first heard from Joel Schwartzkopf, the assistant vice chancellor of student health and wellbeing as well as the Cougar Health Services director.

CHS was one of the founding members of the American College Health Association, which promotes the health of college students and campus communities through advocacy, education, and research, Schwartzkopf said.

“We’re really good at what we do, and we’re proud of it,” Schwartzkopf said. “The last two years, we ranked in the top 25 in the Princeton review for both our medical services and our counseling services.”

While the current team at CHS believes they are successfully fulfilling their duties, they want to improve even more, Schwartzkopf said. He said that they want to start this process by clarifying certain inaccuracies and myths that surround CHS.

He first called up the Director of Medical Services at CHS, Dr. Sunday Henry.

CHS promotes LGBTQ+-centered care and provides medical care to all students, regardless of their gender identity or sexual orientation, Henry said. She also said that one of the primary goals of CHS is to provide accessible and affordable care to all WSU students.

Henry said that many students hold some misconceptions when it comes to the way that CHS functions, as many of them are afraid that their parents or teachers will be notified of their medical visitations.

“Just because we’re located on campus doesn’t mean we talk to your parents or anybody else on campus about you,” Henry said. “We have to follow all the rules and regulations that other healthcare entities follow.”

Cougar Health Services is fully accredited by the Accreditation Association for Ambulatory Health Care, and are considered a legitimate medical institution, contrary to what most students may think, Henry said. Only around 20–25%  of ambulatory clinics in the country are accredited, she said.

CHS handles a wide variety of issues, including but not limited to acute illnesses,  sexually transmitted infections, transgender and trans-affirming care, lacerations and fracture care, Henry said.

Henry said that CHS tries to ensure that if there is a service students need that is not provided, or out of their range of affordability, they try to provide other options or assistance to make that medical care more accessible.

“Our goal here is to serve you, so we want to make sure we’re available for you,” Henry said. “We’re here to serve you, not to make a gazillion dollars off of you.”

The senators then heard from Loren Brown, the interim director of counseling and psychological services at WSU.

Brown discussed the different kinds of services that are available at CAPS and the kinds of therapy services and psychological assessments that are available to students. He also said that there are a series of free mental health apps that are available to all students to use, which can be helpful in mental health emergencies or other times of crisis.

The senators then heard progress updates of the past month from Community Affairs Director, Sebastian Sanders.

He announced that Rosauers will be opening up on Grand Avenue sometime in the next few weeks and shared the city’s plans to open up a Pullman Good Food Co-op sometime in 2024.

The Food Co-op was inspired by the Moscow Food Co-op, which is a cooperatively owned grocery store in Moscow, Idaho with the goal of helping individuals in the community who are experiencing food insecurity.

The Cougar Housing Fair will be held on Nov. 7, and a combined city council and ASWSU meeting will take place at 7 p.m. on Nov. 14 in the Pullman City Council Chambers, Sanders said.

Senators then voted on the first resolution of the semester, 53-01, which was authored by Senator Scott Stevison. The resolution proposes ASWSU marketing and awareness support for the environmental sustainability alliance’s fossil fuel divestment campaign.

The campaign’s goal is to have WSU divest money from fossil fuel companies that it is currently investing in and reinvest that money toward renewable energy, Stevison said.

The resolution was unanimously approved.

ASWSU meets at 5:30 p.m. every Wednesday in the CUB 204.