My second semester on campus, I participated in a class that required volunteer hours. I elected to volunteer at Crisis Nursery in Urbana, and as a result of working with children, I needed to have a medical exam to prove I had a clean bill of health before I could start volunteering. After filling out a round of paperwork, I met with the health practitioner who quickly determined that I was in fine health — except for that tumor on my thyroid. Scared as I was, it was comforting to know that I had vast medical resources already at my disposal.

McKinley is one of many medical facilities in the Champaign-Urbana area, but it is the only one that provides service through student health insurance. Other hospitals and care facilities are there, but their cost of use increases exponentially, especially if you happen to need their emergency room. 

McKinley stands as a welcoming medical center for most student needs.

Not feeling well, but don’t want (or can’t) drag yourself to McKinley’s location on Lincoln? McKinley offers a Dial-A-Nurse service, which runs 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Students can call in and get their questions about injuries, illness or other general health concerns answered by a nurse.

Have a more serious problem that you don’t want to diagnose over the phone? Need a doctor’s note for class or work? McKinley also offers appointments for a range of conditions and concerns. For a general appointment, you can visit one of McKinley’s three medical clinics and meet with a general practitioner. If you’re planning to go abroad, McKinley offers an Immunization and Travel Clinic that can provide general information, allergy and tuberculosis tests, as well as the required and recommended vaccinations. McKinley also offers a women’s health facility and a mental health facility, in case your ailments require deeper specialization. All of these services are included in your student fees, so it behoves you to take advantage of them while you can.

Other McKinley services include a health education clinic and the SportWell Center. Both look to inform students about how to live a healthy lifestyle, not only during their time at Illinois but also to maintain such a lifestyle after college.

If you need to access your records quickly, or send them to another facility, MyMcKinley, a portion of the McKinley Health Center website, stores and organizes all of your recent records conveniently with easy access.

Now while my health needs exceeded the abilities of McKinley, my situation was unique. And it was McKinley’s services that let me know I even had a problem to begin with. Thanks to their organization and help, I was able to get diagnosed quickly and to access and transfer all of my records not only to the doctor I had to see at Christie Clinic, but also to my regular doctor back in my hometown.

McKinley certainly made it easy for me to get the health care I needed, and their ability to do the same for all 40,000 students on campus should impress even the healthiest among us.

Sarah is a graduate student. She can be reached at [email protected].