Sending Your Kid to College? Here's How to Protect Their Health From Day One.
Studies show that young adults are increasingly relying on the ER for healthcare—even when it’s not an emergency. Sollis is on call for new students (and anxious parents) for immediate care in California, New York, and Florida.
You've handled every scraped knee, every 2 a.m. fever, every "something feels off" for the last eighteen years. You knew which symptoms you could wait out, which meant a visit with their primary care doctor, and which meant a trip to urgent care or the ER.
Now your student is packing for a dorm room hundreds of miles away, and for the first time ever, you won't be nearby if something goes wrong.
Feeling Anxious? You're Not Alone.
A 2024 study from the Kaiser Family Foundation found that 45% of adults ages 18-29 didn’t have a primary care provider (PCP), while in 2019 the Journal of Urgent Care Medicine reported that Gen Z and Millennial consumers use urgent care more frequently than Baby Boomers. This suggests that young adults are increasingly relying on emergency services—like urgent care and the ER—for healthcare, even when it isn't an emergency.
This isn’t because college kids are reckless with their health. When accessing primary care is more difficult, especially when you have an urgent medical need and you don’t have a trusted doctor nearby, the ER, with its crowded waiting rooms and exorbitant bills, becomes the default for many college-aged people.
The Gap Nobody Prepares Parents For
While move-in checklists cover the dorm essentials and the meal plan, they probably don’t address unexpected medical needs beyond directing your student to the campus clinic. Unfortunately, student health services and traditional urgent and emergency care may not be enough when your child wakes up in the middle of the night or the week of final with a 102° fever or a weird rash.
The problems with traditional student healthcare:
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Campus health centers have limited hours and often long waits, and they're not equipped for anything beyond the basics
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Urgent cares near campus are unfamiliar territory for your student, who has no relationship with the providers and no assurance of continuity of care
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The emergency room becomes many students’ fallback when nothing else feels accessible, even for problems that don't need ER-level care
This is the care gap that turns a manageable illness or injury into a stressful, expensive ordeal—and it's exactly why more parents are treating health prep as seriously as they treat everything else on the move-in list.
What Real Protection Actually Looks Like
Peace of mind is a plan, not a feeling. If you want to protect your college student’s health, here’s what that plan should include:
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24/7 virtual care with a real doctor or clinician that’s reachable by phone, email, or chat at 2 a.m., before a big test, or on a random Tuesday afternoon. No dealing with bots or waiting for the campus health center to open.
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Access to IV hydration when it's clinically called for. Between the flu, food poisoning, a late night, or student athletics, there’s a level of dehydration that might otherwise mean an ER trip and a missed week of class.
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Rapid testing for infections (including STIs). Respiratory bugs, GI illness, and yes, STI testing, too, handled quickly, privately, and without judgment. This matters more than most checklists let on because students may avoid treating their symptoms rather than face an awkward public visit.
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All the medical essentials, from required vaccines to medication refills to specialist referrals. This administrative layer of healthcare is easy to overlook until your student needs a Tdap booster for a program or a same day refill on a prescription.
When You Can’t Be There for Your Student, Sollis Is On Call
You can’t prevent every unexpected health need—but you can give your child one number providing on-demand access to in-person care at 14 centers in Northern California, Southern California, New York and the Hamptons, and South Florida, plus 24/7 virtual care in those states and global travel support.
Signature membership also includes:
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Required vaccines
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Medication administration and one-time refills
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Saline IV hydration and vitamin infusions, when clinically indicated
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Routine blood work
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Access to imaging (X-ray, MRI, CT, and more)
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Expedited specialist referrals with top doctors in their area
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Patient advocacy if their care requires hospitalization
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House calls for an additional fee
Want even more access? Sollis Platinum members unlock all-inclusive imaging, 3 included house calls, 2 Guest Passes, a complimentary specialty procedure, and much more.
Send Them to College with 24/7 Protection
When campus clinics are closed and urgent care waits are long, our ER-trained doctors are available within minutes.
Find Your Plan