Medical and mental health are two of the most important things a person needs to take care of. To help students with any problems they face, Los Medanos College partnered with TimelyCare and has seen moderate success in its one year at the school.

TimelyCare is a 24/7 online service that gives students access to a wide variety of free medical, mental health and basic needs services, all designed to tackle any challenge students want assistance with. 

Since the service partnered with LMC in 2022, 477 students have signed up and 215 visits have been taken, said Dean of Counseling and Student Support Jeffrey Benford.

The average time it takes for a student to get connected with a medical professional for a standard problem is nine minutes, and only four minutes for crisis situations.  

One highlight of TimelyCare is that every niche issue a student has can be met by the various professionals TimelyCare has to offer, said Benford.

“It’s important to have more in-tune therapists,” said Benford.

TimelyCare is not just for mental and medical health purposes, but can be used for simple basic needs.

“It’s important to know that TimelyCare isn’t just for therapy,” Benford said, adding that the service can even be used for yoga, cooking and athletics.

While TimelyCare does have plenty of benefits, there are, of course, its downsides. The service can only be accessed online, and some people may prefer in-person counseling.

LMC student Griselda Moreno-Mata tried out the program and wasn’t the biggest fan of it. 

 “I don’t like having to use a phone for it,” said Moreno-Mata, as she prefers a hands-on approach to dealing with her mental health. “My counselor signed me up for in-person therapy and it’s been working out well.”

Other students have had success with TimelyCare and found it worked better for them than other mental health counseling they have gone to.

LMC student Alyssa Olivas tried it out once and “liked it a bit.” 

“It was better than some of the mental health counseling I’ve been to at Kaiser,” said Olivas.

While a decent amount of people are aware about the resources they have available to them, Benford acknowledged that more work can, and will be done to spread the word about TimelyCare. 

Within that, Benford hopes to break stigmatization surrounding mental health and the “distorted thinking” people have about reaching out for help.

Benford and others are working on delivering more presentations on TimelyCare, equipping student ambassadors with the support they need and tabling with students to get the word out.

Benford said that helping students meet their needs helps faculty “live out our purposes as educators.”

“Everybody wins,” Benford added.