Common Health and Health Services Questions
For on-campus emergencies, call Campus Police at 401-456-8888. For all other emergencies dial 911.
Students in distress can call the HOPE Line at 401-456-4673 to confidentially speak with licensed clinician. This service is available to students 24 hours a day/7 days a week.
We offer information on how to live a healthy lifestyle and encourage making positive behavior choices. We strive to achieve this mission by:
- being a resource center for Rhode Island College students to obtain information and services needed to improve and maintain their health
- advocating, creating and maintaining a community that encourages environmental, physical, social, intellectual, and emotional wellness to support a healthy lifestyle and encourage student success
- creating and implementing health initiatives aimed to improve individual and community health at Rhode Island College.
- collaborating with students, faculty and staff, and other organizations on and off campus to encourage and foster health initiatives on campus
- maintaining cultural competence and expanding the understanding of the links between culture, identity, and social justice as determinants of health
- offering confidential individual consultation and referrals for students in need
- Student Union – near Student ID Office, first floor
- Physical Plant – stairwell, first floor
- Browne Hall – Student Health Services Office
- Donovan Dining Center – first floor, in eating area
- Roberts Hall – first floor/main floor, all the way down hallway from front entrance
- Adams Library – main library, to the right of the Information Desk
Any student, undergraduate or graduate, living in the residence halls or a commuter, may use Health Services, regardless of insurance status.
There is no charge for on-site exams and lab tests completed in Health Services. However, if additional lab testing or x-rays are needed, your insurance company will be billed by the outside agency performing the tests.
Visits are available on an appointment basis. Acute care and illness visits are generally scheduled for the same day. Urgent issues are seen immediately. You can now schedule an appointment with Health Services online on the Medicat Patient Portal, accessed through MyRIC or you can call Health Services at 401-456-8055.
If there is an immunization block on your registration, you have not supplied Health Services with immunization information required by the Rhode Island Department of Health for full-time students in college. Call Health Services at 401-456-8055 for assistance.
STD testing is part of an evaluation done for sexual health concerns or routine screening. The specimen(s) are collected in Health Services and sent to our contract lab for processing. Your insurance company will be billed by the lab for these services. When available, Health Services is able to offer free oral HIV testing in the office.
Once you are a student on campus you may obtain vaccines through Health Services. Additional information about cost and availability of vaccines can be obtained by calling our office, at 401-456-8055.
Tuberculosis (TB) testing (Quantiferon Gold) is also available for students by appointment.
Health Services is a certified state-vaccination site. Students may qualify for free state-supplied vaccine. Call Health Services at 401-456-8055 about cost and availability of vaccines.
Pre-exposure prophylaxis (or PrEP) is when people at risk for HIV take daily medicine to prevent HIV. PrEP can stop HIV from taking hold and spreading throughout your body. When taken daily, PrEP is highly effective for preventing HIV from sex or injection drug use. "Studies have shown that PrEP reduces the risk of getting HIV from sex by about 99% when taken daily. Among people who inject drugs, PrEP reduces the risk of getting HIV by at least 74% when taken daily." Call Health Services at 401-456-8055 to learn more.
