Health care on campus Student Health Advisory Committee plans event for spring

MOHAMMAD DJAUHARI Reporter @17thletter

Affordable health care is an important issue for many people, and a campus group is trying to bring awareness to students that cheap and affordable health care is available to them on campus.

The Student Health Advisory Committee (SHAC) will host a Health and Wellness fair at the Great Hall early next semester on Wednesday, Feb. 17, 2016, to raise awareness of the services the Health Center provides to students.

“When you pay the $11 health fee, think of it as an access fee,” said Loralyn Frederick, who is a Health Center assistant. “You as a student being here, during that semester, can see any of the health providers on campus which includes nurses, physician, clinical therapists and nutritionists, for free.”

The health fee a student pays each semester when they register for classes, which is $8 during the winter and summer intersessions and $11 during the spring and fall semesters, allows students access to Health Center services and discounted costs for items like flu shots. and tuberculosis tests.

“Students often don’t utilize these resources,” said Frederick. “They just don’t know about us so we’re trying to get the word out through SHAC, the different events we have on campus and this fair.”

To bring a greater awareness of what the Health Center provides to students on campus, the fair plans to have multiple booths at the Great Hall which will provide the services normally offered by the center such as blood pressure checkups, rapid HIV testing and a raffle that includes prizes like parking passes and a FitBit health watch.

The main goal of SHAC is to inform students of the Health Center and its services as many students are unaware that these services are available to them nor do they know exactly where the $11 health fee goes to or for.

“It’s amazing to see how many students don’t know that the services are available or how to get them,” said Lori Peters, ASO senator and SHAC committee chair. “The students pay the $11 fee with their enrollment each semester but have no idea where that money goes. They pay it because they are told it is mandatory.”