Center
to give same day appointments
By
Jean Augustin
Daily Forty-Niner
Contributing Writer
The Student Health Center, which already provides a variety of services to
students for little or no cost, has made improvements for the fall semester.
According to Renee Twigg, director of the Student Health Center, “The
mission of the Health Center is to keep students healthy enough and able to
afford to remain in school.”
Therefore, even if students are not enrolled in winter or summer classes, they
can still pay to be able to use the Health Center’s services all year.
Improvements to the Health Center include the use of new electronic medical
records which show the staff information from the last five visits, X-rays,
lab test results and other information in a much more convenient way than in
the past.
Now, the personnel will save time by not having to hunt for paper charts. The
way patients are seen has also been redesigned. Patients are sent directly
to see someone who is there specifically for their problem.
For instance, there will be separate waiting rooms for people with upper respiratory
problems than people who are waiting to have their ankle X-rayed.
“That way someone waiting for a prescription refill won’t be exposed
to a room full of people coughing and sniffling,” said Twigg.
Because the system has been improved, wait times will be shortened and same
day appointments will now be available even for prescription refills.
A $45 fee is included at the beginning of each semester, which makes all students
eligible for free check ups, free X-rays, free in house lab work (and a reduced
rate for lab work that is sent out), and access to a limited number of medications
in the pharmacy which are all only 50 cents to a dollar over cost.
For instance, birth control is normally $25 to $37, but at the Health Center,
it is $3 to $7 per package.
Sometime this fall, a new state-funded program called family PACT (Planning
Access, Care and Treatment) will be available through the Health Center.
This program will provide family planning services such as pap smears, birth
control and STD and STI exams for free to students who qualify. The installation
date has not yet been released, so look for more information from Health Center
this semester.
The Center’s staff of about 50 doctors, nurses, technicians and pharmacists
sees about 250 to 300 students per day during the fall and spring semesters,
mostly for women’s health and upper respiratory problems.
But there are many more services available, such as men’s health, gynecology,
flu, gastro-intestinal problems, ankle injuries and STD testing. There is also
an immunization clinic open Mondays and Tuesdays from 8:30 to 10:30 a.m.
The Health Center is open Monday, Tuesday and Thursday 8 a.m. to 6 p.m., Wednesday
10 a.m. to 7 p.m. and Friday 8 a.m. to noon. It is open all year except for
the week between Christmas and New Year’s. It is located on the corner
of State University Drive and Merriam Way, across the street from the Nursing
Building.
More information about the Health Center and it’s services is available
at www.csulb.edu/centers/shc. |
