Medical Info

Camp Ojibwa has a fully equipped and operational modern health center

The facility contains two exam rooms and adequate space for any campers or staff that may need to be isolated for health reasons. The Health Center stocks over-the-counter medications and supplies that can meet the majority of our medical needs.

Directing the Sachs Family Health Center for the summer of 2022 is Parks Watson. Parks’ medical experience and her Ojibwa history make her uniquely qualified for this role. Parks has been a working RN since 2010, and for the last 7+ years has worked as a Pediatric Emergency Nurse. In May 2022, she will earn her Master’s in Nursing and Family Nurse Practitioner degree. Parks is also a beloved member of the Ojibwa community already! She has spent 10 full or partial summers at Ojibwa working in the health center. The staff and campers truly respect and appreciate her, and her love and knowledge of camp life make her a perfect fit to lead the Medical Center.

Supporting Parks this summer will be a full staff of nurses along with our incredibly loyal and helpful visiting doctors. These doctors vary in specialty and connection to camp and their expertise is always appreciated.

Finally, our Health Center will be supported by PediaTrust, a pediatric specialty group made up of almost 70 clinicians that provides concierge telemedicine services. With this relationship, we have unlimited, around-the-clock access to a pediatrician assigned to Camp Ojibwa who, with the support of our medical team, can address any individual medical concerns that may arise.

The health and well-being of your son is our top priority and we believe that the healthcare staff and facilities at Camp Ojibwa are second to none. You can always feel safe that your camper is being cared for and looked after.

Healthcare Protocols include:

Before First Day

Thorough review of medical history and collaboration with any necessary parties including cabin counselors, kitchen staff and head staff.

First Day

Camper evaluation including baseline weight
Head lice check

Ongoing

The Health Center is open after every meal and before bedtime to dispense medications and have the medical staff treat non-emergency patients
Parents are notified upon any illness requiring overnight stay, as well as other significant illnesses and injuries
Area specialists are available to support the camp medical team as needed
Close proximity to local hospital should X-Rays or other support be necessary
Members of the medical staff are on call 24/7

Dear Camp Ojibwa Families

For more than 92 years, Camp Ojibwa’s mission has been to help turn boys into men and to teach them strength and perseverance. We live that mission every single day, and will continue to do so for years to come.

The COVID-19 pandemic presented a significant challenge for Ojibwa. From the very beginning, we believed we could overcome the hurdles that the pandemic would set in our path, and open Ojibwa for our boys this summer. We developed a comprehensive plan with protocols and procedures based on guidance from the American Camping Association and the CDC. Our Plan was thoroughly reviewed and vetted by our internal leadership team of Camp alumni and by medical professionals across multiple disciplines throughout the country. We were, and remain, convinced that we had the expertise, the training, and the ability to execute the plan this summer. As we have said in numerous writings over the past three months, our goal was to make Camp Ojibwa the safest place on Earth in the summer of 2020. Therefore, in the true Ojibwa spirit, we fought “with all our strength and might” for Camp Ojibwa. We believed that we could conquer all obstacles and barriers, and overcome all health-related issues. We stayed in the game as long as possible and refused to give up, including conversations held in the past 48 hours with Government officials

Ultimately, however, we were defeated by the State of Wisconsin and the Vilas County Health Department. As we compiled all of the data, reviewed the current trends of Wisconsin’s cases, and analyzed the local healthcare system, we determined that we could not proceed with our regular camp operation and programming this summer. It was particularly significant that the Vilas County Health Department advised us that it would be unable to provide us with any support this summer, and may shut us down should we have any positive COVID cases. As you know, most of our brother and sister camps are located in counties in Wisconsin other than Vilas. Ojibwa is one of the few of our peer overnight camps located in Vilas County and subject to the stringent regulations issued by that County. Nevertheless, we respect the County’s position, and we will accept and abide by its determination. We therefore have no choice but to cancel the 2020 camp season.

This unthinkable outcome came as a blow to all of us. We are grieving the loss of this summer alongside all of you. The two of us, as Directors and as parents of campers and staff, know personally how significantly this impacts the lives of our campers, staff, and families. We are deeply hurt, but we are not down. We learn at Camp that we must always be resilient, and must never give up. We did everything humanly possible to open Camp. We did it for Ojibwa because, as we sing in our fight song, “we love her truly and for her we’ll always fight.”

During the past three months, we received an outpouring of support and encouragement from our camper families, staff, and the entire Ojibwa community. The letters, emails, texts, calls, and video messages demonstrate your passion and commitment to Ojibwa, and reaffirms what makes Ojibwa so special. We are grateful for all of you, and take great pride in being a part of the lives of our campers and staff. The two of us are here for all of you in any way that you need. Do not hesitate to reach out at any time. We are together, we are PureBWA.

We will send follow-ups to you about tuition refunds, and our great plans for the summer of 2021, as soon as possible. Until then, please click here to watch this video and join us in appreciating the true spirit of Camp Ojibwa. Here’s to Camp Ojibwa,

Joel and Joey