ASUW OSHR

Sexual Health

From Hall Health:

Hall Health Center offers information and a variety of services regarding Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) and Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS).

Consulting nurse services and medical consultations

Unlimited consulting nurse phone calls and visits with a Hall Health Center health care provider are available to all currently registered students at no charge. If you have questions or concerns that you want to discuss in person about any of your health care needs, including HIV, AIDS, or any sexually transmitted diseases (STDs), make an appointment to speak with one of our health care providers. Non-student patients are charged a regular consult visit fee.

Wellness Resource Center

The Wellness Resource Center is located on the first floor of Hall Health Center. It is stocked with brochures, newsletters, books and videos on a wide variety of topics including safer sex, HIV, HIV antibody testing, AIDS, and other STDs. Call (206) 616-8476 for hours of operation. All telephone calls and visits to the Wellness Resource Center are kept anonymous.

HIV/AIDS Education

A Health Educator is available for individual consultations. Call (206) 616-8476 to schedule an individual consultation.

Testing services

Hall Health Center offers confidential HIV antibody testing. Anonymous testing is not available at Hall Health, but can is offered through several providers in Seattle.

If you request a confidential HIV antibody test, the test information and results are entered into your medical record. Hall Health Center maintains your record in a strictly confidential manner.

Test Procedures

1. Make an appointment to see a Hall Health Center health care practitioner. If you prefer not to give the reason for the appointment, tell the person scheduling that you would like a confidential appointment.
2. During this visit your practitioner will conduct a pre-test assessment. You will receive an explanation of the test, information about how to interpret test results and suggestions about ways to protect yourself and your sex partner against HIV and other STDs. You have the right to decline “pre-test counseling.”
3. If you decide to have the HIV antibody test, arrangements will be made to communicate the test results; results are generally available in 2 working days. Test results can be communicated by ecare, telephone, letter or at a scheduled follow-up visit. “Post-test counseling” is available; this requires a scheduled visit or can be done by telephone. You have the right to decline post-test counseling.
4. If your HIV test is positive and you do not return for post-HIV counseling, your practitioner will attempt to contact you.
All HIV positive tests are confidentially reported to the Health Department (this is required by law). The Health Department will likely make contact with any patients testing positive for HIV to ensure that partners have been notified.

Cost

There is no charge for any pre- or post-test counseling if you are a currently enrolled UW-Seattle student. Students and non-students who are insured should consult their benefit plans for coverage of lab testing fees. Those not insured will be billed accordingly.

Community resources

Hall Health Center maintains referral lists of community HIV-related services. We can give you the names of organizations that provide services such as support groups, in-home or long term care, or crisis information. Additional information is available through:

Public Health-Seattle & King County’s STD Clinic

Confidentiality

Hall Health Center adheres to strict confidentiality and non-disclosure policies to protect the information in your medical records. Information cannot be released from your medical record to anyone (including parents, employers, instructors, friends, domestic partners).

University of Washington Policy on Human Immunodeficiency Virus

This policy is intended to provide basic information to members of the campus community about the ways in which the Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV), the causative factor leading to Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS), is transmitted. It is also designed to make the academic community aware of the fundamental principles which will govern University-sponsored clinical and educational activities relating to HIV infection and AIDS and to ensure that confirmed or suspected cases of infection are managed appropriately.

Extensive medical research indicates that the HIV is not transmitted through casual contact. Transmission requires intimate sexual contact or exposure to needles associated with intravenous drug abuse, to blood or blood products, or to other body fluids. Accordingly, legal and ethical considerations militate against the adoption of any policies or courses of action which would deny ordinary privileges and rights, including that of privacy, to students, faculty or staff members who are known or suspected to be infected with the HIV.

The University shall disseminate accurate and objective educational information on the HIV and AIDS to the campus community. The University will also make available to eligible persons appropriate clinical services, including testing and counseling, and will make referrals as necessary to other health-care agencies.

Administrative responsibility for implementing this policy is assigned to the Director of Hall Health Center. The Director will be advised by a committee composed of the Director of Environmental Health and Safety, the Executive Director of Health Sciences Administration, the Director of Personnel Services, the Vice President for Student Affairs and an ex-officio representative of the Office of the Attorney General. The committee may call upon other members of the University community for assistance.

Other Websites

Public Health-Seattle & King County’s STD testing pages
Planned Parenthood’s STD testing resources
The American Sexual Health Association
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) STD resources
The Body (HIV/AIDS)
AIDSmap (HIV/AIDS)
Supporting College Students Living with HIV