By Christine Wheaton
Staff Writer
The recession hit colleges nationwide. At Bryn Mawr, one manifestation of the hard economic times can be seen in the Health Center’s reduction in hours.
While the Health Center was previously open 24/7, it is now closed Friday, Saturday, and Sunday nights.
In light of changes in its operating hours and to ensure students had some access to medical professionals, the Health Center instituted a program where incoming calls are directed to an off-campus health service.
The on-call medical counseling service has been contracted in order to answer urgent calls from students who cannot wait until 9 a.m. the next morning when the Health Center reopens.
Students who call the health center after 11 p.m. on Friday or 3 p.m. on Saturday or Sunday are directed to call the service if they need medical attention.
Nurses and counselors on the other side of the line are not employees of the college’s health services. Similar programs are in place at colleges across the country, including Barnard and Vassar.
Doctor Kay Kerr, the Health Center’s Director, said that “thus far there haven’t been very many calls, so it’s hard to assess how well it’s working.”
With that in mind, the Health Center is soliciting feedback from students who make us of the service on their experience either through e-mail or feedback forms.
Michelle Smith ‘10 did not use the weekend night medical care when it was available last year, but still she likes that there is currently on-call service available.
Kelsey Grimes ‘12 said that an in-person nurse would be better than an over-the-phone diagnosis. However, she said, that would be impractical, and the service is "nice to have as a security measure."
Sherry Lee ‘12, meanwhile, said that a nurse would need to be in a room and see the patient’s symptoms in order to provide an accurate assessment of the problem.
In the meantime, the Health Center remains staffed 24 hours a day from 9 a.m/ Monday until 11 p.m. Friday.
This article is © 2008 The Bi-College News. The material on this page is free for personal or educational use, but may not be reproduced, reprinted, republished, redistributed, or otherwise transmitted to a third party without the express written permission of The Bi-College News, 370 Lancaster Ave, Haverford, PA 19041.
Editor's note: Articles that appear in the Last Word section are works of satire.
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