Remodeled Student Health Center reopens on campus

The Saint Joseph’s University Student Health Center, located in Sourin Residence Center, underwent renovations in summer 2016 and is debuting a new look this fall semester.

After undergoing a program review, feedback given to the Office of Student Life said that changes needed to be made.

“That summer of 2015, we had come up with the idea of just maybe reconfiguring the space we already have,” said Laura Hurst, director of Student Health Services. “Not necessarily reinventing the wheel, but kind of flipping what we had to make the waiting room more private, to control the crowd a little bit, to give it more of a doctor’s office feel.”

The main changes that the reviewers noted were ones that Hurst and the Health Center also acknowledged.

Previously, the Health Center had a lack of privacy. With the updates, the new office has given both students and Health Center employees their own spaces.

“The [new] waiting room is larger,” Hurst said. “[It] also provides more privacy. So once students come in from the waiting room to the exam area I think it’s a little bit more controlled and quiet and private. Students have the opportunity to come around and talk to Marlene [Harper, administrative assistant of the Health Center] through either the window or with the door shut. So if you’re making an appointment, not everyone in the waiting room hears what you’re making an appointment for.”

In addition, both the reviewers and the Health Center employees noted that not every patient room had a sink. The renovations improved the room’s amenities.

“Every exam room now has a sink in it, which as a provider, is a wonderful thing,” Hurst added.

Students who know both the old and the new Health Center recognize the changes.

“It seems that the new measures taken by the Student Health Center allow us more privacy,” said Kelly White, ’17. “The shape of the [Health Center] is different than before, so there are less people you have to walk in front of and it’s more discreet.”

According to Cary Anderson, Ph.D., vice president for Student Life and associate provost, he likes the way the space was redesigned so that students can go straight into the waiting area.

At this point there are no plans for further expansion out of the dedicated space in Sourin Residence Center.

“I think right now we are good where we are,” Hurst said. “I think we’ve done as much as we can with the current space that we have, as far as fitting exam rooms and things into it.”