Westmont Health, Safety and Local Resources for Parents

If your student is sick

The Westmont Health Center is on lower campus across from Van Kampen Hall. It is open Monday to Friday, 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., on days classes meet. Call (805) 565-6164 or email shs@westmont.edu. Traditionally enrolled students pay no office visit fee, with nominal charges for medications, treatments and vaccines. The Health Center does not bill insurance, but your plan applies to off campus referrals, imaging and after hours care, so make sure your student carries an insurance card.

When the Health Center is closed, its own page points to:

• Cottage Urgent Care, Montecito, 1298 Coast Village Road, (805) 569-7847, open daily 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.
• Sansum Clinic Urgent Care, 215 Pesetas Lane, (805) 563-6110. Sansum's own page lists weekdays 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. and weekends 8 a.m. to 7 p.m.
• Cottage Hospital Emergency Department, 400 W. Pueblo Street, with the emergency entrance at Castillo and W. Junipero streets, (805) 569-7210, open 24 hours.

Counseling and crisis help

In an emergency call 911. For a mental health crisis call or text 988.

Counseling and Psychological Services (CAPS) shares the Health Center building next to Armington Hall and is open weekdays 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. at (805) 565-6003 or caps@westmont.edu. Services are covered by student fees, and CAPS staff will talk with parents about how to respond to a mental health concern. After hours during the academic year, the on call Resident Director answers at (805) 565-6273. Cottage Hospital also runs a 24 hour Psychiatric Emergency Service at (805) 569-8339.

Pharmacies

Westmont's Helpful Places sheet lists the CVS at 1282 Coast Village Rd, (805) 565-0897. Another CVS is at 336 N. Milpas St, (805) 560-0092. CVS lists lunch closures from 1:30 to 2 p.m. at both pharmacy counters.

Campus Safety and alerts

Campus Safety is at (805) 565-6222, or extension 6222 on campus. Westmont asks callers to dial 911 first in an emergency and then Campus Safety. Anyone can request a safety escort through the same number.

Westmont Alerts calls the cell and emergency contact numbers students give when they register each semester and texts their cell, so ask your student to list you as the emergency contact. The college also posts updates at westmont.edu/emergency and on a hotline, 888-565-7911.

Wildfire planning is worth knowing about here. Westmont's plan is to shelter in place in the Murchison Gymnasium complex rather than evacuate; during the 2008 Tea Fire, 800 people sheltered there safely. The college asks parents not to urge students to get in a car and drive away during a fire.

Mail and packages

Address mail this way, and leave "Westmont College" off:

Student Name 955 La Paz Rd. Dorm and Room Number Santa Barbara, CA 93108

The Mail Center is open weekdays 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., closing for Chapel from 10:30 to 11:30 a.m. on Monday, Wednesday and Friday; reach it at (805) 565-6087 or mailcenter@westmont.edu. Packages are ready by 4 p.m. the day they arrive. USPS does not deliver directly to campus, so for anything overnight, Westmont recommends UPS or FedEx.

Groceries, banking and errands

Vons at 1040 Coast Village Rd is the grocery store on Westmont's Helpful Places sheet and a stop on the weekend shuttle. The same sheet lists Montecito Bank & Trust, Bank of America and Chase on Coast Village Road. For bigger runs, Westmont's list names Costco and a Target in Goleta and Marshalls on State Street.

Care packages

Time boxes to land before fall finals (Dec 15 to 18) or spring finals (May 3 to 6), and remember that halls close at noon on Dec 19, so plan for anything arriving after that to wait until your student is back in January.