CGTC partners with Atrium Health to offer healthcare to their students

WARNER ROBINS, Ga. – Central Georgia Technical College became the first technical college in Georgia to offer on-campus student health services last Friday, May 19.

The ceremonial signing took place on the college’s Warner Robins campus. College President Dr. Ivan Allen and Atrium Health President Delvecchio Finley signed their agreement in front of other attendees to represent their new partnership.

This partnership will bring healthcare to all students currently attending the college. According to the CGTC Marketing Director JoBen Rivera-Thompson approximately students from 31 counties attend the college, and access to health services is a barrier to them due to economic challenges and financial barriers.

Services offered at the clinics will be women’s health services, wellness exams, physicals screens, drug screens and acute and primary care for illnesses and chronic conditions. The services are being supported by the student wellness semester fee, which was approved by student body leadership.

Vaccinations are something they made sure to offer to students because they often have to get them in order to work in facilities, especially those majoring in careers like Health Science.

“They usually have to go somewhere else to get that done, but now those services are on our campus, they’re going to have access right to it,” said Thompson.

Thompson said it is the college’s goal to be as active as possible with community partnerships, which is why CGTC has always had a good relationship with Atrium Health Navicent. He said many students in industries like cybersecurity and industrial services maintenance work for Atrium Health, but they wanted to make their relationship stronger. This led them to create a partnership that helps students even more.

“We identified that students need access to health care and on-campus clinics are not a stranger for our universities out there, our commercial partners, but this is something that we wanted to do and we’re proud of being the first technical college in the state of Georgia to offer it,” said Thompson.

Thompson said the college has a track record of innovation for all of their efforts and they exist to serve their students. The college is helping low-income students receive basic healthcare that will lead them to thrive in their careers. On-campus clinics will open this fall to all students, and they can visit them any time during the week.

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