Students
overlook health services
By Tina Page
On-line Forty-Niner
Health
is an important topic among college students
because many students are away from home
and their regular doctors. Cal State Long
Beach’s Student Health Services is an accredited
doctor’s office on campus that many students
are unaware of.
The Health Services building was built along
with the university and is funded by a $35
health fee that each student must pay when
registering for classes. The $35 fee paid
at registration allows Health Services to
offer almost all of its services for free
or at cost.
Although Health Services intakes about 200
to 250 visits daily and about 36,000 visits
annually, many students are unaware what
the extra $35 fee during registration provides
for them.
“There is a common misperception among the
students that we are a nurse’s Band-Aid
station or an STD clinic,” Victor Canon,
budget and operations manager and marketing
team chair for Health Services, said. “We
are a daytime doctor’s office with federally
licensed doctors, nurses, lab, pharmacy
and X-ray services.”
Some students who were unaware of the services
provided at Health Services were pleasantly
surprised with their treatment.
Melissa Murray, a senior and child development
major, decided to visit Health Services
to see what it offered.
“It was a good experience,” Murray said.
“I didn’t know that my $35 fee paid for
the services. I was surprised that I could
get such cheap prescriptions.”
Renee Lemus, a junior journalism major,
said she had a similar experience when she
decided to see what the center had to offer.
“I had no idea about the $35 fee,” Lemus
said. “While I was in the waiting room the
director came out and explained to everyone
in the waiting room what the fee covered
and what they offered at the Health Center.”
Lemus has insurance but said that Health
Services is more convenient and offers cheaper
prescriptions than she gets through her
regular provider.
The $35 fee covers outpatient treatment
for sudden or moderate illness and injury,
annual examinations, medical care for issues
related to men’s health, X-rays, and dermatology,
orthopedics and psychiatry are available
by referral from a Student Health Services
physician or nurse practitioner. Prescriptions
are available at cost and pap smears and
the related lab tests are available for
a nominal fee.
CSULB has one of the lowest health fees
in the CSU system because the university
board of trustees subsidizes 25 percent
of Health Services’ funding, Cannon said.
Funding for Health Services is also channeled
into the Health Resource Center, a service
that strives to provide education and support
to students to promote healthy living.
“One of the most important things about
any health service is that you want to promote
prevention through education,” Heidi Burkey,
Health Resource Center office supervisor,
said.
The Health Resource Center offers four major
programs to students.
The most popular service is the Sexual Awareness
workshop. This workshop is required for
all females who are seeking to obtain birth
control contraceptives. During the workshop,
students and staff discuss contraceptive
methods and sexually transmitted diseases.
A physical exam is also administered.
The three remaining programs are free STD
and HIV testing that is offered two to three
times a month, nutrition counseling, and
a men’s health clinic which costs $11.70.
Many of these programs are staffed by students
with experience in a variety of majors.
Noemi Orozco, a management information systems
major, does administrative work and contributes
to the resource center’s newsletter, Health
Beat.
“We have a lot of students working at the
resource center,” Orozco said. “This helps
us to offer great customer service and provide
students with a staff that understands their
needs.”
The resource center is located in room 268
in Health Services. The resource center
shares the same hours as Health Services
— Monday, Tuesday and Thursday from 8 a.m.
to 6 p.m., Wednesday from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m.
and Friday from 8 a.m. to noon.
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