Following the retirement of Maureen Cousino, Carol Drews began her new job as a nurse at Hillsdale College’s Ambler Health Center a week before the start of the spring semester.
Drews first had an opportunity to work with Hillsdale College five years ago. “Maureen went to a seminar, so she asked me to fill in for her. I also did some sports physicals. It was on a very limited basis,” said Drews. After Cousino announced her retirement after 12 years, Drews made her way through the interview process and obtained the position.
“There were a couple rounds of interviews,” said Brock Lutz, Director of Health Services at Hillsdale College, “and we really desired the nurse position to be one that relates to the students. What stood out about Carol was her experience and her comfort with dealing with whatever walks in the door.”
Drews, a Hillsdale native, studied at Jackson Community College and became a registered nurse, eventually working alongside her husband, John, and her in-laws at “Drews Place,” an assisted living home founded 25 years ago with facilities throughout southern Michigan. They currently have plans to open a new assisted living facility in nearby Tecumseh, Mich.
Besides leaving town in order to receive her degree, Drews has lived in Hillsdale her whole life. “This is home for me,” she said. She and her husband John have been married for 18 years, and they have two boys, Patrick, who is 14 and a freshman playing basketball for Hillsdale Public Schools and Peyton, who is 10 and involved with the Hillsdale Theater for Youth.
After working in an assisted living home, Drews admits that there is a whole different angle when providing health services to college students.
“When you’re 80 or 90, there’s not much I can do,” she said. “It’s nice to deliver wellness at an age where I can make a difference.”
Drews also urges students not to wait until they get sick to see her.
“Come to the health center, and we can talk about ways to stay healthy and prevent sickness.”
Since beginning her job at the health center, Drews has come across some interesting finds. “I basically found antiques,” she said, “A lot of it was probably from the original nurse in the 1950s, Lucille Van Horn.”
Drews has come across such artifacts as glass syringes, hypodermic needles, lab equipment, and medication containers with expiration dates in the early ‘50s.
“None of it was in use, and I got rid of the needles, because they were unsafe to have around, but there was a lot of medication and equipment for minor surgeries, such as removals of moles. This used to be basically a clinic,” she said.
Some of the equipment that Drews came across is now on display in the lobby of the health center.
Drews has many ideas on how to improve student familiarity and interaction with the health center.
“What I’d like to do is offer services up the hill,” she said. For example, we have a flu clinic on Friday from 11:30 to 1 in the student union.”
Drews has become involved with the Health and Wellness Committee in an advisory capacity. She has also taken the time to meet with each dorm mother in order to share information about health and wellness-related situations.
“She really wants to be involved on campus,” Lutz said. “She gets it. She gets that we’re about relationships.”
In her first three weeks on the job, Drews has had nothing but positive interactions with the students and staff at Hillsdale College.
“Everyone who’s stopped by has introduced themselves. I’ve felt very welcomed here,” said Drews
The Ambler Health Center’s hours are 10a.m. to 3p.m., Monday through Friday. The center is no longer closed for lunch. “We found that students needed us during that lunch hour, so we made the decision to stay open,” said Drews. The medication is available at-cost, and the doctor’s fee is $40.
ebrune@hillsdale.edu
