As of Wednesday, March 3, the Student Health Center and the Counseling Center reopened to the public in their new building. Construction has been underway for a new home for both of the centers due to a need for greater space and an update from the previous building, which was built in the 1950’s.
The plan for a relocation of the Student Health and Counseling Center has been in the works for the past few years. There were multiple reasons as to why a move was imminent. One of them being that the building that they were previously in was leased to the University and not actually on the Pacific campus.
Director of the Student Health Center, Kathryn Eisenbarth said that the University wanted to be able to move the location of both of the centers into an on-campus site where students would be able to have better access to their services.
The larger space in the new building allows for a smoother flow of traffic and will make communication between faculty and students much more efficient. There will also be a space for a reception desk, which was lacking from the previous building.
Medical services have an improvement in that their Electronic Health Record equipment was upgraded. These medical services are essential in making sure that staff members are able to have easier access to and better records of patients’ medical history. Not only will this allow for faster appointments but it will also allow for the staff to be able to see more patients and make the entire program more efficient.
Other issues would have occurred had the University tried to convert office buildings into clinical spaces. There would have been issues with plumbing and the conversions may not have met the American with Disabilities Act’s requirements and standards for ease of access for patients with disabilities.
The new building is able to support the larger number of students and faculty that are on campus and will be able to accommodate patients with disabilities more than the previous location.
Eisenbarth said that the centers are always looking for better ways to serve the students of the Pacific community and that they are still searching for ways to better expand their service.
With a new building, more space, a more visible location and an upgrade for the equipment, the talents of the staff of the Student Health and Counseling Centers will be able to benefit even more people than before.
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