One day freshman year, now-senior Matthew Fuzi walked into the Colonial Health Center with a sore throat.

Fuzi said a CHC staff member diagnosed him with strep throat but told him to see another medical professional to receive an antibiotic prescription. He went to the GW Hospital for a second opinion and was instead diagnosed with viral pharyngitis – the medical term for a sore throat – which does not require antibiotics and can be remedied with over-the-counter medications, like Advil.

Fuzi is one of more than 20 students who shared personal accounts of care at the CHC that they allege was improperly handled. The students, some of whom spoke on the condition of anonymity to keep their medical information private, said the center lacks administrative organization and a sufficient number of trained staff to adequately address their health care needs, causing them to lose trust in the CHC.

“The [staff member] basically said, ‘Yeah, it’s definitely an infection,’” Fuzi said. “She could have fooled me.”

One student said CHC staff directed her to take antibiotics and steroids to treat what staff members thought was either mono or strep throat, but test results later came back negative. Another freshman said she sought sexually transmitted infection testing and mental health counseling but alleged that CHC staff acted “condescending” during her two visits, which she said discouraged her from seeking out long-term counseling to treat her panic attacks and suicidal ideation.

University spokeswoman Crystal Nosal did not return a request for comment about what avenues are available for students to submit complaints about the CHC and how many complaints the CHC has received about its care practices.

Nosal did not return a request for comment about what kinds of complaints students submitted about the center, what areas of the CHC the complaints concerned and what steps the CHC has taken to address student concerns.

Students can submit suggestions for how the center can improve its services through a feedback form posted on the CHC website.

Sophomore Natalie Trujillo, who experiences bipolar disorder, said she visited the CHC last spring after worrying she would not pass her classes. She said she felt “brushed off” when the CHC therapist told her to “chill out” and that her grades “don’t matter.”

Trujillo said she felt the advice she received from the therapist was not founded in “evidence-based” medical care but in his own “personal philosophies.”

“I just left that feeling so frustrated, because even this resource that I thought I could turn to and that I thought I could use while I didn’t have a therapist completely was a waste of time,” she said. “I was appalled that that’s what he told me.”

One sophomore said three of her friends filed CARE reports after she experienced suicidal ideation, but she never received notice or help from the CHC in response.

She said she ended up in the psychiatric ward of the GW Hospital after a suicide attempt. The sophomore said she sought mental health counseling from the CHC after spending five days in the hospital but alleged the counseling “wasn’t helpful for me at all.”

She added that the CHC did not follow up with her after her initial visit to mental health services, did not refill her prescription medication for her obsessive-compulsive disorder in a timely manner and did not notify her professors that she had been hospitalized following a suicide attempt, which she said the CHC should have done.

“They never checked up on me,” she said. “After I left the hospital, they were like, ‘Figure it out,’ and I was never checked up on again, as if they forgot about me.”

The student said the center lacks “consistency and organization,” likely causing little communication from CHC staff.

“There were times where I felt like I fell through the cracks and no student should have to feel like that – especially if they’re dealing with mental health problems,” she said.

The health center has seen staff turnover over the past several years. In 2015, three former mental health staffers – including Silvio Weisner, the center’s former Mental Health Services director – were found to be unlicensed to practice as psychologists in D.C., prompting them to leave.

Glenn Egelman, the CHC’s former associate dean, resigned in October 2017 after leading the center for six months. In a letter months after he stepped down, Egelman said he could not “reassure” students, faculty and staff of the “quality, safety or appropriateness” of CHC care.

Danielle Lico, the associate dean of students for administrative services, served as the center’s interim leader until Vice President of Student Affairs and Dean of Students Cissy Petty assumed the role last September. Officials began a search this summer to fill the position, which has now been vacant for two years.

Another student said he tried to visit a CHC psychiatrist to talk through symptoms of depression but faced a monthlong wait for an appointment. The sophomore said he called the CHC for emergency counseling but only received treatment from a counselor once his depression reached a “crisis level,” which involved him lying in bed all day, missing classes, “drastically” overeating and experiencing suicidal thoughts.

The student said the CHC lacks a sufficient number of psychiatrists to accommodate students’ mental health care needs. He said officials should increase CHC staff to ensure that students who develop mental health disorders, like depression, after transitioning from high school to college receive timely care.

The CHC currently employs two psychiatrists, according to the CHC website.

“There are a lot of people who don’t have a history of depression who come to GW and it’s really different from what people may have experienced, so there’s a potential for depression,” the sophomore said.

The University announced a slew of changes in April 2018 aimed at improving the CHC, like doubling the number of free mental health sessions, transitioning to an electronic record-keeping system and hiring a staff dietician.

The Student Association launched the student health advisory council – a forum for students to share their opinions and concerns about health insurance, health care quality and affordability at the CHC – in September 2017. The council announced last December plans to host town halls focused on health care issues students face in an effort to expand student participation in the council.

A female sophomore student who sought out mental health counseling said her assigned counselor left halfway through last academic year, and she faced difficultly building a relationship with the new counselor.

She added that the CHC does not offer enough mental health counseling outside of the 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. workday schedule. She said regularly attending individual and group counseling sessions during the day is difficult for students with class or work commitments.

“They say that they have these resources, but they’re not listening to students – ‘When is it a convenient time? When is it manageable for you? What are these resources and how can we be delivering these resources to you?’” she said.

Rachel Annex, Tiffany Garcia, Ed Prestera, Ciara Regan and Uzma Rentia contributed reporting.