Health Services

Ensuring quality and accessible health care is a top priority for Juniata. In today’s age, health care costs and pressures are extraordinary, qualified health care professionals are in short supply, and resources are limited. Broad Top is working to effectively meet and solve these challenges in the Huntingdon community as they grow, expand access to quality health care, and serve the community. 

As an innovative and dependable partner, Broad Top Health and Wellness will inaugurate a new clinic on Juniata’s campus. This facility will provide extended access to qualified doctors and nurses, telehealth options connecting students with specialty providers across the region, a 24-hour emergency care line, language interpretation services, and an exceptional standard of compassionate and skilled care.

The health services agreement at Juniata is reviewed annually. When it was time to renew the agreement, Juniata College reached out to several regional health care organizations for a proposal. Broad Top’s submission comprehensively met student needs and the College’s requirements. Their proposal also added enhancements to the current offerings, including greater access to physicians, consultation after hours and a considerable referral and specialist network, among others. Broad Top also expressed a willingness to assess needs and implement changes based on circumstances going forward.

Through our new agreement with Broad Top, students will have access to health care over summer, winter breaks, and holidays and access to a larger network of specialists who will work with our campus counselors and student life professionals to better support the total health and wellbeing of our students. Broad Top will provide all doctors, nursing staff, and administrative professionals and manage care that is aligned with our mission to treat every student with the care and respect they have come to expect. 

Students can meet with Broad Top physicians and medical staff by appointment or drop in for care. Services will include primary and preventative health care, well women exams and gynecologic care, physical exams, immunizations, health screenings, routine care for minor injuries and illnesses, integrated behavioral/mental health and social services, patient care coordination, and chronic disease management for diabetes, asthma, and other long-term illnesses. 

Broad Top will perform routine laboratory services, possibly subject to deductible and co-insurance. Any studies sent to outside labs will be billed separately by the lab company.

Yes, student access to medical services and support is guaranteed. Students will not be denied care.

There is no change in Juniata’s policy that students provide proof of a minimum level of coverage or take part in the Juniata student insurance plan. Broad Top will bill student insurance as allowable for health-related visits and services; Juniata and Broad Top are committed to assuring care without regard to an individual’s ability to pay. If the cost of health care is an impediment or barrier, access will always be prioritized.

Juniata and Broad Top are committed to supporting student access to health care through available programs, social services, and direct support. This approach has been the case in Juniata’s health care delivery in the past and remains a mutual commitment of both Juniata and Broad Top as the new partnership moves forward.

Broad Top will bill student insurance for health-related visits and services as permissible, but Juniata and Broad Top are dedicated to ensuring care regardless of an individual’s financial capacity. If health care costs pose a hindrance or obstacle, ensuring access will always take precedence. Broad Top Health and Wellness is a federally qualified health center, which is a nonprofit health center that is federally funded and committed to delivering medical care regardless of a patient’s financial means. Juniata College shares this commitment to comprehensive care for all.

Some over-the-counter medications were previously provided to students without cost, and Juniata College will work with Broad Top to provide a similar service to students.

Students previously used insurance or personal funds to cover costs associated with lab tests, immunizations, antibiotics, and prescriptions, for instance. Other procedures, including STI testing, were billed to or paid by students directly.

Yes, Juniata College will realize expanded health services for students and financial savings through our new partnership with Broad Top Health and Wellness. With its operational model, Broad Top will bill student insurance for health-related visits and services as permissible. This shift is estimated to save nearly $300,000 annually in the institutional budget while expanding student access to health care, adding a 24-hour emergency care line and language interpretation services, offering telehealth options to connect students with specialists across the region, and providing exceptional and compassionate care to all students.  

Through this partnership, Juniata remains committed to overall health and wellbeing, including those provided by Glaeser Counseling Center and on-campus wellbeing programming. Broad Top Health and Wellness is a federally qualified health center, which means that it is committed to delivering medical care regardless of a patient’s financial means. Juniata College will continue to evaluate the benefit of this new partnership.

Broad Top accepts all insurance plans to ensure accessibility for all. If medical staff find that a student’s insurance is currently out of network, they will work to navigate coverage and accept the student’s insurance. 

Juniata College acknowledges that this transition may result in increased costs for some, yet students will benefit from exceptional and compassionate care, including access over summer and winter breaks, and holidays, a 24-hour emergency care line, language interpretation services, and telehealth options connecting students with specialty providers across the region.

Numerous colleges and universities partner with health care providers and directly bill student insurance, such as Elizabethtown, Susquehanna, Gettysburg, and Penn State. As Juniata College responds to the demand for better access, quality, and expertise, Juniata College is aligning its health care services more closely with those offered by other institutions of higher learning.

At Juniata College, we believe our students’ families are partners in a students' journey, yet we understand that students want privacy when it comes to health care. By law, if you are 18 or older, your medical records are private. Information that Broad Top Health and Wellness staff receive or discuss with a student at a health center or clinic is confidential and cannot be shared with parents or people you know without your permission. However, insurance carriers do send an explanation of benefits to the policy holder, which communicates that some type of service was rendered.

No, the staff and services of the Glaeser Counseling Center will continue to provide mental health care services and support to students. The staff and services of Glaeser Counseling Center are independent from health services. 

The new partnership with Broad Top includes access to behavioral health, mental health care, and psychiatric services that will complement the services provided by the Glaeser Counseling Center.

Yes, Broad Top Health and Wellness, as a federally qualified health center, is open to all who seek services and treats each patient individually with dignity and respect based on their needs and circumstances. As a comprehensive family health provider, Broad Top is committed to providing students with a full range of health services. If advanced or specialized care is needed, Broad Top will work in careful partnership with specialists to best meet patient needs.

On a case-by-case basis, we will always respond to students’ need for transportation assistance.

Juniata’s relationship with Broad Top has been positive and expanding (curricular, community engagement, internship placements, providing referrals and serving students for health and mental health care).

Broad Top and Juniata share a primary interest in serving and improving the local and regional community of Huntingdon. Broad Top was recently selected as the area’s best medical center by readers of the Huntingdon Daily News. Broad Top has been awarded Access Enhancer and Health Disparities Reducer certifications by the Health Resources and Services Administration. These awards represent Broad Top’s commitment to delivering the highest quality care through equitable and inclusive practices.

• Greater access to doctors, physician assistants and nurse practitioners
• Expanded hours of operation in the clinic 
• Health consultation and guidance via emergency medical phone line, particularly helpful during off hours, nights and weekends
• Access and coverage at all Broad Top clinics, which will mean evening and weekend support
• Behavioral health and mental health support including psychiatric appointments
• Close connections with additional local and community providers for enhanced and timely referrals
• Continuity of access and care through Juniata break periods, such as winter and summer break.

The existing fee supports overall health and wellbeing-related activities of the college, including services provided by Glaeser Counseling Center and wellbeing programming that supports healthy and active living and resilience. We will continue to provide access to counseling, cover some of the infrastructure that supports the provision of health care and services, the fitness center and wellbeing spaces, and programming to address pro-social healthy behaviors.

Yes. Through consultation with Broad Top health professionals, students will be provided with some applicable OTC medications to address their individual needs, such as cold and flu symptoms, minor aches and pains, gastric discomfort, and irritations or rashes, among others. Sexual and reproductive health and safety will be available as well (including tampons and menstrual products, condoms, pregnancy tests).

The center will be capably staffed during all hours of operation with three staff: a doctor or an advanced practice provider (a physician assistant or nurse practitioner), a nurse, and a receptionist. A behavioral health counselor will work part time in the center.

The center will offer in-person visits and, when needed, facilitate consultations and dual visits with specialists, including mental/behavioral health professionals, through state-of-the-art telehealth equipment.

Broad Top will also designate one of their team as a Juniata College advocate to serve as a single point of contact for students, available to address questions related to care, medication, and billing.

New students joining the Juniata community in the fall of 2024 will complete the Broad Top new patient registration packet during Juniata’s new student summer orientation. Broad Top staff will be available to assist and answer questions. These forms will supplement the Juniata College health forms sent directly to students and families upon depositing at Juniata College. Please be prepared to provide a copy of your health insurance card during orientation. 
 
Returning Juniata students can release their Juniata health forms and history to Broad Top by completing a release of information request. Upon a student’s first visit with Broad Top, the student will complete new patient registration forms, a release of information, as well as their insurance card at check-in.