The Student Health Center's Web site proudly boasts a quote from a presumably ameliorated, albeit unidentified, student who said the center "gives me exactly the help I want and need exactly when I want and need it." Though this glowing assessment of the notoriously abortive "Student Death Center" seems dubious, the student could very well have received the help he wanted and needed - assuming he wanted a birth control prescription and needed it during the annoyingly narrow window of time when the Health Center is actually open.
Indeed, many students utter the phrase "Health Center" with a cynically ironic tone. Stories spread through campus like a sexually transmitted disease of flagrant misdiagnoses and nightmarish waiting times emanating from the Health Center's Nebraska Hall office. Students complain about its remote location and inconvenient hours of operation. Given this lackluster reputation, it seems the Health Center is the last place one would go for reliable medical treatment - and the first place one would go to be told a fractured rib is just a symptom of mononucleosis. When Sibley Memorial Hospital is just a free cab voucher away, why bother with the Student Health Center, a place few people on campus seem to trust?
Fortunately, the Health Center recently appointed a new director, which could mean wholesale improvements in the near future. Already the new director has issued a list of tentative changes. As early as 2005, the Health Center will be relocated to the McCabe building behind Letts Hall. No longer will students with broken limbs
crawl desperately across a busy Massachusetts Avenue in search of treatment! Also, the center will allow students to schedule appointments instead of accepting only walk-ins. This makes a lot of sense, given that many students must schlep over to the Health Center at 8 a.m. to avoid waiting in a long line. The new director also plans to keep the Health Center open on weekends! The center will soon be among the two other dignified establishments on campus that don't pretend students magically disappear on Saturdays and Sundays: the 'Nest and the gym.
These changes will improve both the services provided by and the reputation of the Health Center. By moving its offices to the McCabe Building, students will view the center as a valuable and connected part of campus, rather than the seemingly rejected and unwanted freak-baby of the Office of Campus Life that has been sequestered to a random building on Nebraska Avenue. However, if the Health Center really wants to revamp its image, more changes will have to be made.
To start, the center's staff needs to be more friendly and courteous to students. Nothing is worse than heading over to the Health Center with the flu or a broken toe, only to be greeted with condescension by a receptionist. Also, some students say they have called the Health Center during its hours of operation without getting an answer. Customer service is an important part of any organization, and when it comes to the Health Center, its student-staff relationship could use a check-up.
The Eagle would also like to see an advertisement campaign designed to improve the image of the Health Center. Currently, the only publicity the center receives are the rumors circulating about the guy who was allegedly diagnosed as pregnant. Some nice flyers posted in the dorms would prevent impressionably freshmen from referring to the Health Center by its unfortunate moniker, the "Death Center."
One last improvement: Stop asking us to take a survey the moment we leave the Health Center! No one wants to take a survey about one's experience at the Health Center while keeling over in pain. By making these changes, the Health Center will become a trusted part of campus where students know they will receive proper medical attention, when they want it, when they need it.
