Campus Collaborations: Grinnellians Demystify Healthcare

Before moving to Grinnell for college, political science and biology major Emmy Potter ’24 lived on a small cattle ranch and farming community in rural Nebraska.

While living there, she would wait hours for healthcare appointments and had limited access to resources, which had once struck her as normal. But as she talked to fellow Grinnellians about their healthcare experiences, she realized this wasn’t the case.

“That’s not the normal experience for many people prior to coming to Grinnell,” she says. “So, I was struggling with that [realization].”

In summer of 2022, Potter interned in Washington, D.C. at the National Patient Advocate Foundation, where she conducted policy research in patient advocacy. Her work would plant the seed for a future collaboration with Student Health and Wellness (SHAW) as she began thinking about what it would mean to ensure access and equity in healthcare.

Bridging Knowledge with Action

Once August rolled around, Potter had an idea to create GHAMP, or the Grinnell Health Advocacy and Mentorship Program. Her experiences in Nebraska might not have been the norm, but they were more common than one would think. After talking to several Grinnellians, Potter observed a common theme: there was nowhere to turn and learn about healthcare resources.

“Students would say to me, ‘I can’t get appointments and I don’t know how to get transportation,” Potter recalls. “Or ‘I can’t afford the transportation or complete insurance work.’ I saw a gap that needed to be bridged somehow.”

Having already dabbled in the world of navigation services and health policy during her internship, she had a solid foundation to approach Terry Mason, the Dean of Health and Wellness at SHAW, about supporting GHAMP, which would expand their existing services and disseminate information among students related to healthcare. 

“We also wanted to be a place where students can go if they don’t feel comfortable. ‘How can we become an extension of SHAW? And how do we make it known what resources they have and what has changed over time?’”

To tackle the answers to some of these questions, Potter started collaborating closely with Mason, who fully supported GHAMP’s mission: to empower students to be informed, active participants within the American healthcare system and help navigate any barriers to care, particularly in rural settings.

Although Potter noted that it was hard to approach SHAW with student perceptions of their shortcomings, she says Mason and other staff members at SHAW have been nothing but encouraging in bridging these gaps. “Terry has been supportive of the idea and has been so helpful every step of the way,” says Potter. “He’s incredible.”

Soon after, GHAMP expanded their cabinet to include a vice-president, Anu Sanumi ’26, treasurer David Stefanoff ’24, and secretary Hope Harrington ’24. So far, the cabinet has based a majority of their programming on a survey sent out to the student body in the fall of 2023, which helped uncover where students were having difficulty with the current system.

To start addressing some concerns, GHAMP assembled two brochures, including a “Preparing for your Appointment” booklet and a “Grinnell Community Health Resources Guide,” which provides descriptions, locations, and links to on and off-campus counseling, mental health, eye care, emergency room services, and more. Back in February 2024, GHAMP also launched their first event of the spring semester, titled “Understanding Insurance.” They answered questions like, “What is a premium? What are deductibles?”

They even covered key terminology used in the doctor’s office, such as balance billing, copay, and coinsurance, and introduced types of preventative care services and those that are covered under health insurance.

“We tried to keep the presentation concise and as digestible as possible,” says Potter. There’s so much information in such a short presentation that you really want to make sure you’re hitting the points so that people can draw on that knowledge later on. We also did a Q&A, where students asked us any questions they had along the way.”

GHAMP made sure to highlight several factors for choosing a healthcare plan, such as budget and income, medications needed, and their frequently of doctor visits. They even defined different health plans, from Health Maintenance Organizations (HMOs) to Point of Service Plans (POS).

“It’s definitely a collaborative effort. We’ve gotten a lot of slide decks from SHAW and use a lot of information they have. I also talk to people that trained me [during my internships] and get feedback from SHAW staff,” Potter says. “Terry [Mason] is also really helpful in navigating many processes – how do we fit into SHAW? What are the policies we need to be aware of when we are structuring [our organization]? Submitting budget proposals – what is administration looking for in those? It’s been a wonderful experience working with them.”

Individualized Care for Students

This year, GHAMP has been offering private meetings with their mentors and general open hours for students to help clarify information regarding their student insurance, explore potential health plans after graduating Grinnell, and discuss their medical circumstances.

“Everyone’s health care situation is a bit different,” remarks Potter, “and we can’t cover everything in a presentation, like explaining the differences between Medicare and Medicaid. Healthcare is a very personal thing. Some people are probably not going to be comfortable asking questions in a group setting; it is deeply personal thing to them, knowing that healthcare is highly politicized in Iowa. Especially for students in more rural areas and for people of color stigmatized by the healthcare system.”

Potter, who currently sits on SHAW’s advisory board, says that her work in patient advocacy and GHAMP has changed her post-Grinnell plans. She knows that, without a doubt, she wants to continue helping people navigate the complex U.S healthcare system. And thanks to her collaboration with SHAW, she has already begun doing that work on campus.

Reach out to GHAMP

The Grinnell Health Advocacy and Mentorship Program hosts events year-round. View their open hours and tabling sessions on the Grinnell Events Calendar. You can also spot GHAMP tabling sessions biweekly in the Rosenfield Center (JRC) lobby, promoting events and answering student questions. Contact GHAMP by email.