Kaitlin Parks
Lantern Staff
After a long wait, College Health Services have finally received their own private facility at the Butler Campus of Andover. Their College Health unit was formerly located in the hallways of the 5000 building.
It has now been relocated to the north entrance of the 5000 building. There was a lacking sense of privacy and patient confidentiality with the old set up o
f the department that desperately needed changed.
Staff Nurse Debra McAdams commented.
“The secretary sat out in the hallway, “ McAdams said. “My office was also shared as an exam room, and the nurse’s office was catty corner down the hallway so things were definitely helter-skelter.”
Now they are in a private facility with three completely private rooms. Every room and hallway including the two new bathrooms is completely handicap able. All are complete with securely locking doors.
McAdams also commented on the facilities.
“We’ve had people just walk in because our doors didn’t really lock over there so I’m probably most excited for the amount of privacy we’ve gained,” McAdams said.
The College Health facility provides many different services including physicals, well-women checks, STD checks, tuberculosis testing, immunizations, flu shots, pregnancy tests and many more services.
“We’re basically a little mini clinic,” McAdams said.
They are working to increase the student enrollment fee, so that their services may be completely free. Making the entry fee and their services free would significantly increase the amount of patients seen per year.
Every office visit fee is currently $10 a visit. The staff appreciates scheduling appointments but will accepts walk-ins. In 2015, they received a total of 2,634 student patients.
McAdam also added that many students are unaware of the health services at Butler of Andover.
“Three fourths of the student body currently does not know that we exist,” she said.
Some Butler students may not know that the college provides health services, which is why the Andover Campus is so excited to have the resources available advertise their services. Their main goal this year with the new facility is to get the word out on campus that they exist and to increase their patient numbers.
Photo Credit: Kaitlin Parks
