Posted July 27, 2004
New Student Health Center Director Daniel Bruey, who currently directs Temple University's Student Health Services, will begin work at AU Aug. 30, with no current plans of changing the center, he said.
"I don't think it's wise to just come in and make changes," Bruey said.
He will replace Bethany Chiaramonte, who started as director of AU's Health Center last year and resigned in June. Chiaramonte is currently working part-time to help Bruey transition into his new job, according to Dean of Students Faith Leonard.
Chiaramonte referred questions to Leonard, who said Chiaramonte plans to work in Chicago, where she lived before coming to AU. (For more information on Chiaramonte's tenure and departure, see The Eagle articles linked below.)
Before holding his current job at Temple, a university in Philadelphia with about 34,000 students, Bruey was appointed in 2001 as the assistant director for administration at Temple's health center. Mary Burgess, acting clinical director for Temple Student Health Services, said Bruey is energetic and enthusiastic about student health.
"He's been a fantastic director and we hate to see him leave," Burgess said. "He's just done an extraordinary amount here."
One of Bruey's main accomplishments at Temple's health center was expanding its health education department, Mary Burgess said. She said the department used to have one part-time employee and now has two full-time employees.
Bruey described Temple's health system as "a very customer- or student-focused environment." The center assesses student needs at the end of each semester as a guide for change, he said.
Under Bruey's watch, representatives of Temple's health center also met with Resident Advisers and conducted student surveys and focus groups to see how to better serve students, he said.
After this the clinic expanded its hours to stay open until 7:30 on Tuesday nights. The center is open between 8:30 a.m. and 5 p.m. other weekdays, Bruey said. AU's health center opens at 8 a.m. on weekdays and stays open until 6 p.m. every day except Friday, when it closes at 5 p.m.
Bruey, who has a master's degree in business administration from Temple, has also worked with Temple University's Department of Medicine and the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia. Leonard said AU officials were impressed with his background.
"We're just excited that such a qualified person was interested," Leonard said.
Bruey said his hiring process began toward the end of May. Leonard did not know exactly how many applicants came forward for the job but said, "we had a very good response."
Bruey came to campus earlier this summer for an interview and met with students during a lunch meeting, Leonard said. The student group included Student Confederation President Polson Kanneth and representatives from the Residence Hall Association, Leonard said.
Sarah Mashburn, director of the Women's Initiative, said that to her knowledge no one from her group was included in the process.
"I wish either myself or another Women's Initiative member had been involved in the process, both as a concerned student and a voice for almost 70 percent of the undergraduate population," Mashburn said in an e-mail.
Mashburn said she hopes Bruey will use his experience to improve the Health Center, especially in the areas of nutritional counseling and family planning.
During her year at AU Chiaramonte implemented several changes at the Health Center, such as planning the center's move from Nebraska Hall to McCabe Hall, eliminating walk-in hours and meeting with students about including more birth-control pills in AU's Student Health Insurance Plan.
"I think she did a great job improving accountability at the Student Health Center as well as initiating programs that would improve women's health services on campus," Mashburn said. "I have not had a chance to meet Daniel Bruey yet, but I am optimistic that he will listen to our concerns and continue the work Bethany started." javascript:addNewRelatedSite(); The move to a bigger facility in McCabe, on the South Side of campus, is still expected to be complete by the spring. "One of the reasons for having Bethany remain part-time through this summer was to not lose any ground" on the project, Leonard said.
Bruey enjoyed his earlier visit to AU and is excited about learning how AU's health system works, he said.
"I was actually looking for a university that's smaller than the university I'm currently at," he said. "I really felt a definition to the phrase 'vibrant campus,' and that's what I'm really looking forward to experiencing"
