Out with the old, in with the new. A new virtual healthcare service for students is entering its inaugural year at Allegheny. The new service, TimelyCare, is a virtual care provider specifically designed for higher education, according to its website.
“TimelyCare really embodied my values of trying to determine upstream solutions,” said Wellness and Life Design Case Manager Josh Guthrie, ’09. “It’s much less of a reactive support system than it is a proactive support system.”
After Allegheny’s previous virtual care provider, 98point6, abruptly notified the college in December 2024 that it would no longer be partnering with higher education institutions as of the following week, Guthrie led the search for a new provider. TimelyCare launched for the Allegheny student body in April 2025.
Notably, in contrast to 98point6, TimelyCare does not provide medical or primary care services to students. Dean for Student Life Trae Yeckley said this shift was informed by 98point6 usage statistics, which indicated students overwhelmingly used the app for mental health support.
The resources TimelyCare offers stood out to Guthrie as being a good fit for Allegheny, all of which are available at no cost to students.
One resource is the TalkNow line, a 24/7 emotional support service staffed by mental health professionals equipped to assist students with topics like anxiety and depression, interpersonal relationships and academic and career-related issues.
“I think that’s an excellent resource because we all know that emotional concerns don’t just happen between the hours of nine and five,” Guthrie said regarding TalkNow.
Students also have free access to up to six therapy sessions with a licensed counselor, with the ability to browse counselors’ biographies and select to meet with the person they believe they will best connect with. The TimelyCare app contains an online peer community, a moderated anonymous forum where students can connect with and support peers at other institutions who are experiencing similar mental health struggles. Additionally, dozens of asynchronous self-care lessons guide users through topics like stress management, communicating emotions and getting enough sleep.
“I highly encourage the self-care content not only for the individual,” Guthrie said, “but if student organizations or athletic teams are looking to promote well-being for themselves or for their organization or their cohort, I would invite students to partake in these activities together.”
The emphasis on preventative care is part of what drew Guthrie to TimelyCare.
“Oftentimes, when students think about utilizing these resources, they feel like they have to be unwell or not OK in order to be able to utilize these resources,” Guthrie said. “This resource kind of goes against that notion. You can be well and still be able to find benefit and increased wellness and support from engaging in the self-care content.”
TimelyCare’s national infrastructure allows it to administer care anywhere in the continental U.S., which was not the case for 98point6.
In the case that a student’s needs are beyond what TimelyCare can provide, the organization has taken steps to prepare its staff with backup resources. In an effort to integrate its services with the local community, TimelyCare prompted Yeckley and Guthrie to provide information regarding things like where students typically fill prescriptions and where students should be directed (to visit) if experiencing an acute mental health crisis.
“TimelyCare has really shown and gone the extra mile to make sure that they can connect to accurate and current resources in our community,” Guthrie said.
The de-emphasis on primary care services and the increased focus on mental health support reflect the broader trend of students requiring more mental health support.
Yeckley, who used to work in the counseling center, said they have seen a “steady increase” over the past seven years in the percentage of students requesting mental health support. Yeckley said colleagues at other institutions have experienced the same trend, especially coming out of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Even before that, we were seeing an uptick,” Yeckley said, “but that just kind of really shot it up.”
Yeckley said a post-pandemic increase in social anxiety has made it difficult for students to reach out for support. They hope the TimelyCare app will break down that barrier.
“I think having the app on the phone is something that is incredibly helpful for students who maybe don’t know how or are too anxious to seek out in-person, or even ECPS (Edinboro Counseling and Psychological Services), on campus,” Yeckley said.
Since the end of last semester, student usage of the app is up 300%. Guthrie encouraged all students to download the app, even if they don’t expect to use it in the near future.
“You would be in a much better off position,” Guthrie said, “to register and have this available and not need it than you would be to need it and not have access to it.”
