Health Plan Board discusses future of Student Health

The newly-formulated Health Plan Board met Thursday morning to discuss the transitional period Student Health has entered now that College Physician Judith Appleton has officially retired.

Comprised of Student Senators and other students, faculty and staff members and concerned members of the Oberlin community, the Board meets weekly to plan for the immediate interim period as well as the long-term future of Student Health.

"Our goal is to make this new health plan as cost efficient as possible while still providing the best quality of care and education possible," Dean of Student Life and Services Charlene Cole-Newkirk, chair of the Board, said.

Yesterday the Student Health program opened its doors to students for the first time since Appleton left last Thursday. In the week between Appleton's retirement and the new opening, students in need of medical attention were sent to other departments in the Clinic or to the Emergency Room. Now that Student Health has reopened, it will continue to run as it had during Appleton's tenure, with a few modifications in staff and location.

Nurse Practitioner Laura Hieronymus has taken the place of an official College physician, though Dr. Paul Birney will be available as primary physician for students who would rather be examined by a doctor.

"If students really want to see a doctor, they have that right," Cole-Newkirk said. "All they have to do is ask at the desk, or they can always go to Urgent Care."

Student Health has moved to a new location inside the main building of the Oberlin Clinic; its former office will now be used as a base for HIV counselors.

"It's going great," Student Health Secretary Dianne Beko said of the new operation.

Licensed Practioner Nurse (LPN) Cherryl Johnson agreed. "The transition went relatively smoothly," she said.

Major renovations to the Student Health program will not be made until next year. For now, the Board is waiting for feedback on the Request for Proposal (RFP) the College and an outside firm drafted and sent out to various organizations interested in representing Student Health at Oberlin.

The Board extended the deadline for submission of proposals to the College from Sept. 20 to Nov. 1, giving interested organizations such as College Health and the Oberlin Clinic more time to draft their proposals.

The RFP proposed a number of changes for the future of Student Health, including a "self-help center" for students to choose from an assortment of over-the-counter pharmaceuticals available to them 24 hours a day, as well as the possibility of including holistic techniques as an alternative healing option.

"I'm pretty excited about this; I think this school has the great opportunity to do something nobody else does. . . I think we can put together a situation where students can really learn to help themselves," junior Jason Goldblatt, co-founder of the newly-chartered Healing Arts Co-op, said.

Although the Health Plan Board has a limited amount of voting members, its meetings are open to the entire student, staff and faculty bodies.

"The entire campus can be involved in this process. It's an open process. . . if we leave anyone out of the community then it's not a community decision, so we need to make sure everyone has a part," Cole-Newkirk said.

To facilitate an increase in student input, senators on the Board are starting a Health Plan Advisory Council open to all interested parties. They hope to give Health Plan update presentations to dorms, co-ops and off-campus residences to generate more student interest, according to senator senior Dan Persky.

"We want to allow students who don't serve on committees to be part of the decision-making process," Persky said. "Our membership's growing astronomically day by day-we're easily in the double digits by now."

"Students didn't know with the old health services system what was really available to them. . . what we want to do is say to people, 'We're going to educate you. . .' It's so important for people to be involved," senator junior Meagan Willits said.

Cole-Newkirk, faculty and staff members want to work on increasing the amount of health education on campus.

In addition to taking care of students, Hieronymus will teach student workshops on such topics as smoking cessation.

Assistant Dean of Residential Life and Services Barbara Mehwald expressed the need for educational brochures to be provided to residential halls and co-ops as they have been in previous years. "Dr. Appleton was really great about providing students with unlimited amounts of brochures. We need to make sure that continues," Mehwald said.

Board members said they understand that not everything will run smoothly in Student Health's interim period.

Cole-Newkirk spoke of the student grievances form drafted by her student assistant, junior Dana Robinson, and made available to students as of yesterday.

"I've gotten no complaints so far, but I know we're still shaking things out," Cole-Newkirk said.

"We understand that students may have problems with Student Health. They should come to us if they have a problem; that's why we're there," Beko said.