Sonoma State’s Health Center provides students a way to seek help for a variety of health conditions. Being a part of student tuition fees, many students may wonder if the Health Center provides everything they say they do.
Some of these services include lab and X-ray, an on-site pharmacist, and medical care.
“I’ve been to the health center for all kinds of things. They are always great at doing the tests I need or giving me a prescription when I need one,” said Jackie O’Connor.
Each staff member is required to meet the California State University Classification and Qualifications standards, and also the SSU Health Center peer review.
On top of all these requirements, each staff member is reviewed by an independent national healthcare agency every three years.
“The most recent re-accreditation cycle was concluded and successfully completed in the fall of 2012,” said Director of the Student Health Center Georgia Schwartz.
When it comes to emergency situations, the Health Center has helped out student Hannah Stuyt in desperate times. Stuyt had an accident with boiling water spilling on her legs and was rushed to the health center immediately.
“The nurses at the health center acted so quickly and were so calming. They made me feel at ease during an extremely painful time,” said Stuyt.
Although these types of experiences are exactly what each SSU student wants to hear, not everyone has the same type of occurrence with the Health Center.
“The health center never informed me or was even aware of my very bad infection,” said Kelly Ricard.
Ricard went to Health Center due to a cough and was told it was minor and could be treated with cough syrup and cough drops. When Ricard went home for winter break she went to her primary-care physician and was told she had an entire head infection.
For students who are unhappy with their visit to the Health Center there is a process in which students are able to bring up their concerns.
“The Student Health Center has an in depth incident/situation review and analysis process in place that reports, evaluates, and responds to any circumstance or concern that is brought to the attention of the Student,” said Schwartz.
Students can bring up any issues to a Student Health Center staff member or Schwartz herself.
Since the center is a part of our SSU tuition fees, some ask if it is truly worth it.
“It’s really convenient to have the health center right on campus. Also, college students sometimes have risky behavior, so I think it’s good that they all have some kind of health care in case something happens,” said O’Connor.
To make improvements, Ricard believes that taking the time with each patient will benefit the Health Center greatly.
“I felt as if the doctor was trying to help me but they were not trying hard enough to find the true cause of my illness,” said Ricard.
Whether you use the Health Center or not, it is comforting to know that the center is always an option for the students that attend SSU.
