JAMESTOWN, N.Y. — In a recent American College Health Association report, SUNY Jamestown Community College was featured with other community colleges for its role in managing the COVID-19 crises on campus and in the community.
The August ACHA publication, titled, “Managing Public Health Crises at Community Colleges: 3 Key Strategies,” shared guidance from 14 community colleges across the United States as a means to help other institutions address the diverse and evolving health needs of college students arising from the pandemic.
JCC was noted for its partnerships with the New York State Department of Health and Cattaraugus and Chautauqua county departments of health. These collaborations resulted in a high number of vaccinated individuals in the community, and thorough contract tracing and tracking thanks to free rapid antigen tests provided by both counties.
The piece stated, “JCC Health Services played a crucial role in COVID-19 mitigation efforts, assisting infected individuals and implementing daily wellness checks. These community partnerships were essential in addressing the COVID-19 pandemic.”
Roger Johnson, Cattaraugus County Campus Health Center nurse, is one of eight members of the ACHA Community College Advisory Council that compiled resources for the publication. The council was formed in response to a nationwide survey of more than 1,000 students that showed pupils at two-year colleges were significantly less likely to be vaccinated against COVID-19 than those at four-year colleges.
Thanks to his work with the council, Johnson was selected to serve on a panel presenting at the 2024 ACHA National Conference.
“I am extremely proud of Roger, on several levels, as it is his work on the national and state level of community college health committees that drove this recognition,” said Paula Snyder, Cattaraugus County Campus executive director.
Johnson came to JCC in January 2021, one of the heights of the COVID-19 pandemic, after serving as a registered nurse at Olean General Hospital and Olean Medical Group.
His efforts, along with those of fellow JCC Registered Nurse Kathy Manhart and Health Center assistant Charlene Johnson helped students, faculty, and staff stay healthy during the pandemic.
“Aside from the county doing their COVID tracking, we did our own here,” Johnson said. “In fact, we continue to do it. If someone gets sick today, we track that person still.
“We did daily wellness calls, check-ins, and texts,” he continued. “We made it known that we were here – contact us if you come down with COVID, if you’re feeling ill, or if you have any questions. We were that go-to for students and our faculty and staff. They didn’t have to go outside the college to get that information. Because we are registered nurses, we were able to direct care and tell them what to do. I believe we helped a lot of people.”
JCC campuses in Olean and Jamestown were also hubs for state and county COVID-19 vaccination clinics. Johnson said the college had previous partnerships with the health departments in Cattaraugus and Chautauqua counties with holding flu vaccine and sexually transmitted infection testing clinics on campus.
“We took that partnership that we had with flu vaccinations every year and for the STI clinic and basically ramped it up,” Johnson said.
“With community colleges, we try to serve our community,” he added. “JCC was the spot where folks in the community came to get their COVID shot. When the state was here in early 2021, people were coming here from other states, two or three hours away, to get their COVID vaccines. That’s our continuing mission, to do good for our community, because we are in those communities.”
A 2011 graduate of JCC’s Nursing program, Johnson is the college’s State University of New York safety monitor representative. At JCC, he serves on the Behavioral Intervention Team, Leadership Council, and the Student Affairs Leadership Team.
Johnson is also an active member of the national ACHA nurse and nurse administrator groups and the New York State College Health Association.
“ACHA gives us our standard procedures of practicing health in colleges and universities,” he said. “This is why it’s so important to be a part of it. That’s where we pull a lot of information on how to direct our care for the whole college community.”
JCC’s Health Centers provide students and staff with many care services, including treatment for minor health conditions and illnesses, stress and anxiety, and physical ailments, plus general health and wellness counseling, and referrals for further care. Visit sunyjcc.edu/HealthCenter for more information.