Accessing Care at CHWS

We know the uncertainty regarding COVID-19 can be deeply distressing. Your health and well-being are important and CHWS looks forward to being in continued partnership with you as you navigate your college experience. Given the recent news regarding continuing concerns related to COVID-19, CHWS is looking to decrease the exposure you and our clinicians may experience as we meet your health needs. With this in mind, we will begin offering our counseling and medical services remotely.

Students seeking medical care should be aware that providers can continue ongoing care and refill prescriptions in person or via telehealth.  All visits will be telehealth to start and providers will determine when in person is appropriate. Feel free to call for an appointment. If you live out of state or are otherwise no longer in the area, please connect with a provider in your community.  Students experiencing respiratory symptoms will be seen at the Satellite Respiratory Clinic located at 3215 N. 13th, Tacoma WA  98416.

Students seeking counseling services may receive individual therapy, and recommendation and referral services, via telehealth if they are currently within the state of Washington. For our students who are in state and those who will no longer be in the state of Washington we will be offering skills based workshops via telehealth to support your wellbeing. If you are in the area and experiencing a mental health crises please call 911 or the Pierce County Crises Line at 1.800.576.7764.

We will be using the HIPAA compliant TAO platform located on the Counseling, Health, & Wellness Services website to provide telehealth medical and counseling appointments/workshops.

To schedule a CHWS telehealth appointment:

  1. Go to our website, click on TAO and sign up for TAO self-help. This will ensure you have an active account when you schedule your appointment with a provider.
  2. Call the front desk at 253.879.1555 to schedule the appointment. Provide your name, phone number, email address, and reason for visit.
  3. Five minutes before your first teleconference appointment, go to the videoconferencing tab and select the start videoconference. You will need to download the TAO zoom app prior to your first appointment. You will not need to do this for subsequent appointments unless you change the device you are working on. You will need to download TAO zoom for each new device once.
  4. You will not see your provider until they enter the virtual/zoom room. If your provider doesn’t show immediately, please wait at least 5 minutes after the scheduled appointment to disconnect because they may be experiencing technical difficulties or be running late from another meeting.
  5. Note, you may only meet with your provider during pre-scheduled dates and times.
  6. If you are attending a group, the group leader will send you a link to join the group at the appointed group time.
  7. Please call the front desk if you have questions and a provider will get back to you as soon as possible.

We are excited that we are able to offer this unique feature during this time while we are working to both promote social distancing and healthy connection. As this continues to be an evolving situation if there are any changes to our services we will update this on our CHWS website. We look forward to our continued service to the Puget Sound community.