Nora Meeks, Staff Writer–
Denison University began its partnership with Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center during the pandemic. In 2022, when the Ann and Thomas Hoaglin Wellness Center finished construction, they expanded this to all health and wellness services at the Hoaglin Center to give students access to medical and musculoskeletal services.
This partnership was created to better serve the physical wellness of Denison Students and expanded the medical treatment available on campus.
“Because of OSU’s expertise in health care delivery and administration, and deep understanding of the higher education landscape, Denison also shifted management of counseling services to the partnership over the summer,” said Amy Ehrlich, an OSU Wexner employee who oversees all of the administration of health services on Denison’s campus.
OSU Wexner Medical Center now oversees all health and wellness services on Denison’s campus, allowing them to treat students’ physical and mental well-being all under one medical system.
Before the start of the academic year, students could contact their therapists and get mental health information through MyChart, the system used by OSU Wexner Medical Center, but all of the counseling staff at the Hoaglin Wellness Center were still employed by Denison, not OSU.
However this year there was a shift in the employees in the counseling services. Many returning students were surprised to come to campus this fall and find the therapist they had been seeing previously was no longer employed at Denison.
“The abrupt change in the Hoaglin counseling staff definitely had an impact on my therapeutic process and timeline,” Maddie Pavelka ‘27 said. “Getting to school in the fall and realizing the counselor I had worked with all year had left Denison was really tough for me.”
Pavelka has been utilizing the Hoaglin center’s counseling services for the entirety of her time at Denison.
Many of the student wellness ambassadors employed in the wellness center were also disrupted by the change. As wellness ambassadors these students are the community facing part of the wellness center. They create programs and communicate with the students about physical and mental wellness.
Anastasia Wood ‘25 is a senior wellness ambassador and the lead program coordinator for the Hoaglin Center. She says that while the wellness side of Hoaglin’s programming focuses more on mindfulness, nutrition, and physical wellness, they still have a very close relationship with the other employees at the Hoaglin Center.
“We still chat with the nurses and know them,” Wood said. “One of the nurses does like a paint and sip night once a month she runs herself.”
This aspect of Hoaglin has not changed since OSU Wexner took over; however some of the changes in staff are felt throughout the community.
While they declined to be interviewed on the record, the Granville Counseling provided a statement in response to the recent changes.
“The Granville Counseling Collective expresses our sincere appreciation for the professional relationships we have established with Denison University, both in our roles as therapists and as active community members. Many of our collective members are grateful for the privilege of having been employed on the Hill, and we are enthusiastic about the promising prospects to expand our mission to serve a broader demographic, encompassing students, staff, faculty, and community members. As mental health providers located in Granville and within close proximity to campus, we remain dedicated to offering individual and group counseling sessions, along with outreach and training programs, to any students or faculty seeking mental health support. We extend our best wishes to our Wexner Medical Center colleagues who now have the honor of serving the cherished students and campus community.”