Walk-in's here work differently to how it is back home, in that I need to walk-in twice for a…read morecheck-up: first for my vitals, and 2nd after setting up an appointment with the next available nurse or doctor. Tedious, I know, but thankfully the wait wasn't long today and I was helped pretty quickly. Both the nurse and the doctor were friendly and engaging. I received a form in addition to my prescription outlining a list of things to do to help my viral infection. The nurse practitioner who helped me also offered to write a note of absence for a class/discussion I had to miss today. Otherwise, the University Health Services also have a pharmacy right inside Holyoke Center- which makes coming here very convenient for check-ups and prescription pick-ups. Overall the staff was efficient, friendly, and sympathetic during my visit, and I am certainly impressed with their general efficiency and warm hospitality, from the receptionist on the 1st floor to the nurse practitioner who performed the check-up.

My partner had an experience so awful that I cannot wait until I can switch my Health Insurance…read morecoverage. My partner is experiencing pain from a tooth that needs a root canal. He had received a filling earlier today and unfortunately, the dental student did not secure a prescription for pain medication due to thinking a filling would solve the issue. Since he was seen by a dental student and due to the day/time they were unable to have an overseeing dentist prescribe him pain medication. He decided to call HUHS to see whether his PCP or his staff could help him with medication until a root canal on Monday. After speaking with someone on the phone, the person said they did not know what to do for him, but they said he could come down if he was close by and wanted to discuss it with a Nurse Practitioner. He went in person and ultimately nothing could be done because his PCP was not in. It would have been much preferred to hear that over the phone as opposed to walking (In pain) to the Smith Campus Center. That itself could have been a misunderstanding but how he was treated when arrived there is the real problem. The front desk staff were rude and dismissive from the moment he started speaking to them. The man at the front desk denied he had coverage (rudely, cutting my partner off...) and questioned everything my partner said. My partner presented his card and then said his PCP's name and that he had been there before, the man responded "Well that's impossible." Someone else then looked him up and found him, but as he was walking to see the NP they shouted out "No wait you don't have coverage!" To then check again and confirm he did. What is going on at HUHS that they can't even check someone in who has been there, and if the system was having issues then that is not their fault, but how they treated my partner is again the issue. The NP then told him that they did not have the authority to prescribe him anything. This, again, could have been said clearly and directly over the phone to not waste his or anyone's time but again would not be a huge issue if not for the interactions at the front desk. My partner was in pain and thought he would receive at least basic level of human decency in his interactions with HUHS staff. He was treated like he was a criminal walking off the street demanding drugs. He has seen his PCP there. This is HIS healthcare provider. They were asking him whether he was a "summer school student"...do they really not know how to use their own system, and that itself is understandable because systems change/new staff/systems act wonky... but being rude and dismissive is not. I have heard others' stories of bad experiences at HUHS (including my partner having previously been given wrong information in getting blood work done) and now it is just too much. If you are a staff member, then choose another insurance option. I had been a graduate student at Harvard before becoming an admin and thought it easier to stay. But I deeply regret that decision after what my partner experienced.