Gianna Hayes
News Editor
Last semester, the Voice received a tip that TimelyCare, a service provided through Longbrake Student Wellness Center, would not be offered again following the conclusion of the 2024-25 academic year.
TimelyCare is a virtual wellness provider that boasts 24/7 support, nationwide coverage, diverse healthcare providers and continuity of care. Wooster was one of many institutions the company partnered with, alongside Case Western Reserve, Duke and Northwestern. The service was utilized by many colleges and universities following the COVID-19 pandemic, as Anne Ober, the College’s director of wellbeing and counseling services, clarified.
“In that moment, [Wellness] had decided we really needed to provide support for our students, both medically and on the counseling side,” said Ober, in reference to the pandemic.
In the fall of 2020, students were sent home early for winter break — halting the medical care that students had been receiving through Wellness. Per the Counselor and Social Worker Board, Wellness Center counselors could not provide virtual care to students in other states during Wooster’s period of virtual learning. TimelyCare — then TimelyMD — was able to support students thanks to their amenities.
Once students returned in the spring of 2021, the contract was extended to supplement the Wellness Center’s offerings.
“Our doctors will provide and prescribe basic antidepressants and anti-anxiety meds, but anyone needing anything else like mood stabilizers or antipsychotics or [having] a complicated medical or mental health history, it’s not within the scope of our providers,” Ober said.
Wooster’s contract with the program ends on June 30, 2025, and the Wellness Center is opting not to continue it. According to Ober and Wooster’s contact at TimelyCare, the number of “unique members” who have used TimelyCare since the College began its partnership totals 1079, with 147 of those within this academic year (as of Feb. 20). Students who have used TimelyCare or continue to use it are being notified of this change and advised of their options for continuing their treatment.
“There’s a couple of other agencies in town, so we’re trying to help students get linked to other additional local resources as well as use the resources here,” Ober explained.
Wellness Center staff have been supplementing this anticipated loss with other resources. In April 2024, the Wellness Center hired a new clinical case manager, which has allowed students to be assessed immediately — students are then offered a spot on the wait-list or redirected to local resources.
Wellness is also trying to gauge student interest in a new peer support program for substance abuse, run with the assistance of counselors at OneEighty — a Wooster-based center for mental health treatment with domestic and dating violence, substance abuse and counseling.
An additional support is the 988 hotline, which functions similarly to the 911 hotline — but is for 24/7 mental health crises or support.
Other local resources include the Viola Startzman Clinic, Hope 419, Counseling Center of Wayne and Holmes County, Chrysalis Family Solutions, NAMI/MOCA House, Catholic Charities Wayne County and The Summit Therapy Center.
Students are encouraged to research these providers on their own or reach out to the Wellness Center for an intake assessment and referral.
