Because so many college students call Pullman home, the town provides several facilities for students’ sexual health.

Some of these facilities include Planned Parenthood, WISH Medical, Pullman Regional Hospital, WSU Health and Wellness Services, and the Safe is Sexy program on campus.

Planned Parenthood offers pregnancy testing and options counseling, adoption referrals, birth control for men and women, and Essure permanent birth control for women, said Christine Johnson, the vice president of external affairs for Planned Parenthood of Greater Washington and North Idaho.

Planned Parenthood also provides health benefits, including STD/STI testing and treatment, HPV vaccines for men and women, abortions, vasectomies, diagnosis and treatment of urinary tract infections, annual check-ups including breast screening and cervical cancer screening (PAP), emergency contraception, and sexual health education, Johnson said.

Planned Parenthood abides by federal patient privacy laws and their own strict policies with patient records, Johnson said in an email.

Johnson said knowledge is students’ greatest power when it comes to sex.

“Ironically, the biggest misconception about sex is that everyone is having sex,” Johnson said. “A close second among student misconceptions is that having unprotected sex ‘just once’ will not result in transmission of a STI/STD or unintended pregnancy.”

Johnson said it is important to get tested between every sexual partner.

The Pullman Planned Parenthood center is located on King Drive near Safeway.

Voices for Planned Parenthood (VOX) is student-run organization at WSU that provides safe sex information for students, said VOX advisor Margaret Davis. VOX provides sex education, such as the use of condoms and offers Free Condom Fridays. They also table in the CUB, the Lentil Festival, the Vagina Monologues, and the summer Moscow Farmers Market.

VOX provides students with information about Planned Parenthood so they are aware of services and options provided, Davis said. The VOX office is located in CUB 309.

Health and Wellness Services, located in the Washington building on campus, is a full-fledged primary care clinic, said Dr. Dennis J. Garcia, the senior associate medical director and head team physician of Health and Wellness Services. It offers general medical services such as the HPV vaccine, contraception, and STI testing for HIV, herpes and syphilis.

Students can be tested for STIs both conventionally and unconventionally, Garcia said. Unconventional testing is for students who think they’ve been exposed to an STI through oral or anal sex.

The center offers rape examinations for students who have been victims of sexual assault, as well as funds for students who cannot afford testing and prescriptions, he said.

All employees at the center sign a confidentiality agreement, and if information is violated it can lead to the employee’s firing, Garcia said. Parents of students who are over the age of 18 cannot contact the center and ask for their children’s records.

“(Confidentiality) is the most serious thing we take here,” he said.

The most common misconception students have of Health and Wellness Services is that students are employees, Garcia said. Eleven M.D.s and three nurse practitioners or physicians work at the center.

A common misconception students make about sex is that they are immune to infection, Garcia said. Garcia said Health and Wellness specializes in people between the ages of 18 and 25.

“We are specialists in college health,” Garcia said. “That’s what we do. So whatever issues you have, we’ve seen it, we’ve done it, we’ve taken care of it.”

Another place on campus that provides sexual health services is the Safe is Sexy organization. Safe is Sexy is a registered student organization which offers sex education and health outreach for WSU students, said Health Education Administrator Marsha Turnbull in an email.

Outreaches include information on sexual health, STDs, sexual decision making, and other relationship topics.

Safe is Sexy, located in the Washington Building in room G41, provides free condoms at tabling events and sells them in bulk for a reduced rate, Turnbull said.

Off campus, the Pullman Regional Hospital provides 24-hour care for clients, said community relations coordinator Alison Weigley.

It is critical that a nurse sees victims of a sexual assault immediately, Weigley said.

Nurses and physicians at the hospital are specially trained to work with sexual assault victims, Weigley said. They provide compassionate care during physical examinations and connect students with resources. All physicians in the emergency department are board-certified in emergency medicine.

The hospital provides prophylactic treatment, or preventive care of STIs or unwanted pregnancy, Weigley said. Treatments come in pill or shot form to prevent infections and diseases such as HIV and gonorrhea.

The hospital provides surgical procedures for diseases that go untreated, such as pelvic inflammatory disease, which can lead to infertility if left untreated, she said.

Confidentiality is very important to the hospital, Weigley said. As with Planned Parenthood and the Health and Wellness Services, a parent cannot obtain information about their child’s record if they are 18 years and older.

“We’re like Vegas: what happens here, stays here,” she said.