By Allison Seidel

As the winter season approaches College Park, more students are making visits to the health center for different illnesses that come with the cold weather: the flu, COVID-19 and various other viruses. 

According to the University of Maryland Health Center Pharmacy website, it was experiencing staffing shortages, limiting its services. That meant no new transferred prescriptions were allowed. Some students who have dealt with the health center in the past and who currently use the pharmacy reflected on their experiences with the pharmacy. 

Hafsa Siddiqi, the media relations manager in the Office of Marketing and Communications at UMD, said that after a few weeks, the health center was back to normal regarding staffing shortages. 

Siddiqi received a statement from the health center, which stated: “The website banner about temporary staffing shortages has been removed as it’s no longer the case. We are currently accepting new prescriptions and refilling old prescriptions,” the health center stated. 

Megan Nonato, a sophomore business management major at UMD, said that she has used the health center pharmacy for illnesses in the past. In terms of her experience, she said that “it was great.” Nonato said that she has had “good experiences with what they’ve given me and how helpful they’ve been with the pharmacy.” 

When informed about the state of the pharmacy this fall, Nonato said she thinks it is “kind of unfair” for students. Although the health center was still taking existing prescriptions, the new limits could’ve been seen as an inconvenience to students who needed to receive or transfer their prescription from another pharmacy, especially if they are out of state. 

Josie Jack, a junior journalism major, said that she uses the pharmacy for a prescription that she receives every two to three months. Jack wasn’t aware of the state of the health center pharmacy, because she only uses it for an ongoing prescription. 

“It hasn’t affected me because I routinely pick up a prescription once every couple of months,” Jack said. 

Although the staffing shortage concern seems to be lifted, this may raise concerns with the pharmacy going forward, and points toward the questions of whether or not this could happen again. 

Featured Image: The University Health Center on Oct. 5, 2022 in College Park, Maryland. Photo by Olivia Borgula.