Ohio University officials sought a second opinion on student health care yesterday - recruiting Auburn University's top medical official to evaluate Hudson Health Center.
Dr. Fred Kam, medical director of Auburn's medical clinic for 13 years, met with administrators, students and Hudson staff. He will produce a formal report about Hudson later this quarter.
He's not just a doctor
he's someone who is running a top-notch student health center said Kent Smith, OU's vice president for Student Affairs, who worked closely with Kam while serving as dean of students and chief student affairs officer at Auburn. He runs the same type of health center we'd like to offer at some point.
A review by Keeling and Associates in 2007 deemed the center underfunded, and plans to rebuild or comprehensively renovate Hudson were abandoned by the Board of Trustees last winter.
Smith called the center unhealthy but renovation plans could not be salvaged amid university budget cuts.
OU spent $57,000 on new equipment in the fall, and hired two new administrators to help staff the center.
Hudson staff spent the week of Christmas renovating the center, turning nurses' offices into additional exam rooms as part of another $32,042 in improvements.
Kam has spent 19 years working with college health services. Prior to his position at Auburn, he worked for Collegiate Healthcare - a national health care provider focused on student health centers - and at the University of Miami as medical director.
OU will pay Kam a $2,500 consulting fee, in addition to covering his travel expenses, for the report and day-long visit.
I've been asked to figure out what can be done to get (OU) closer to what we're doing at Auburn
Kam said.
Kam said Hudson could improve service immediately and trim student wait times by encouraging more pre-scheduled appointments.
The majority of patients seen are walk-ins
which can be hard to manage
Kam said. Having set appointments improve continuity of care - right now at Hudson (students) go in
and they plan to wait.
Just by removing the individual offices and replacing them with a nurses' station we were able to double the number of exam rooms
said Smith, adding that the check-in process was also changed from a completely computerized process to one that includes speaking with a staff member.
Students should experience shorter wait times
Smith said. I'm feeling a little better about Hudson this quarter.
Winter Quarter is historically the busiest time of the year for Hudson, said Holly Elliot, the interim business manager for Student Health Services, adding that the center sees about 50 more students a day during the winter than other quarters.
Elliot said renovation - which included fresh paint and about $18,000 in new equipment in addition to the new exam rooms - will improve efficiency.
It was a day and night change
she said.
The staff also hopes to improve service as well as the campus perception of Hudson by soliciting feedback from students who visit the center.
Another thing we changed was we put a comment box in the waiting room
said Karen Robinson, who has served as Hudson's interim director of nursing since November.
Hudson is currently working with the Office of Student Affairs and Student Senate to develop a comprehensive student survey about the center.
Our ultimate goal is for students to give us feedback after every visit to Hudson
