Health services have been significantly reduced at Student Health Centers after the Ventura County Community College District made the unprecedented decision without the consultation of health center coordinators.
Mary Jones, Student Health Coordinator at Oxnard College, first announced the district’s decision at the OC Academic Senate meeting in December, which was the first time most of the OC faculty had heard of the announcement.
“We were very convenient for students,” said Jones. “They were able to fit us in between their school, work and their family and they were comfortable here. My concern is that they are not going to go anywhere and that they wont see the proper health care because they can’t afford it.”
Before this official decision was made, Student Health Centers were able to assess, treat and medicate if needed, all while continuing to see students throughout the semester.
Now, they will have to turn students away and refer them to community clinics in the area.
“If someone comes in and they have high blood pressure we have to refer them,” said Jones. “We are not supposed to be following them to see how they respond or even provide medication.”
Surprisingly, budget cuts were not responsible for this decision and it was exclusively based on a district decision.
Dr. Pam Eddinger, Moorpark College President, explains that Student Health Centers focus on health education, emergency assessment and intervention.
“The goal of the district-wide review of Student Health Center operations is to ensure that the scope of services we provide is appropriate for the community college setting,” said Eddinger.
Elaine Tennen, Student Health Coordinator at Ventura College, explained that psychological counseling will be reduced from six to four visits per semester.
“They want us to focus on getting started with some counseling,” said Tennen. “But if somebody needs continuous counseling or care, we need to refer out and we can no longer provide medication for mental health conditions.”
Sharon Manakas, Student Health Coordinator at Moorpark College, clarified that
chronic care for medical issues like hypertension, thyroid disorders, depression, anxiety and several others will be assessed first, then given a referral as well.
In the same scope, Manakas believes this action is conceptually bigger than just eliminating health services.
“When a student comes in for birth control or a pap smear, we don’t just provide that service, we look at the whole student,” said Manakas. “It’s not just the pap smear or the birth control, but it’s also a bigger avenue to addressing other needs that a student might have.”
Still, services like pap smears and birth control will no longer be available, although student health fees will remain.
Eliminating health services like the ones mentioned makes for more hardships that students will quickly have to face, especially for those that solely rely on their Student Health Center for health care.
“Birth control issues are so critical because one of the biggest risks is getting pregnant and we have been able to provide students access to receive reliable methods of birth control,” said Jones. “That’s a real problem now. We’re going to be saying to students that we are no longer doing that.”
Despite such cuts, sexually transmitted testing and treatment services will continue at all three campuses and condoms will still be available.
All three student health coordinators agree that not being able to provide students with services such as birth control and pap smears puts a bigger barrier on educational and sexual health for women since these services will no longer be available.
“Our services are solely supported through student health fees,” said Manakas. “This is money students use to support us and there was no discussion between student health coordinators and the district in making this decision.”
Concerns regarding the purging of such benefits have not been addressed since many students are not aware of this change.
Jasmine Martinez, a 22-year-old psychology major, was taken by the news.
“I had no idea that this happened,” said Martinez. “The district never keeps us updated, which is kind of sad.”
The Student Health Center focuses on keeping students healthy and in class and as so, they will continue to provide students with health education.
“We have the luxury of education, which is not always available in community clinics,” said Manakas. “And many times, you do hear students talk about not wanting to go to some of those clinics because they are not given care and the time that we are able to do through the student health services.”
Tennen urges students to send letters to the VCCCD board members and to the Chancellors office, as well as communicate their concerns to their Associated Student Government in order to voice their thoughts collectively.
