After the University Health Center forced patients and staff through a maze of construction during fall term, it now offers improved, quicker assistance for students, thanks to its recent $10 million remodel and expansion.
The dental clinic, which was closed during fall term, is now open.
The new centralized nurse triage, expanded in-house lab and new procedure and treatment rooms will offer faster service for students, said Anne Mattson, associate director for the health center.
“We’re able to meet students with immediate needs in a much more efficient and effective way so they can return to classes,” Mattson said.
Jim Mough, lab manager at the health center, said his team’s new space allows for better communication with his staff and offers private one-on-one consultation with patients. Before the building was remodeled, Mough and his staff took testing samples from patients and asked sensitive questions in semi-public areas.
“From a patient standpoint, this new space increases patient confidentiality,” Mough said.
Health center staff said the benefits outweigh any inconveniences they experienced during construction.
“Hopefully it will be like childbirth. We’ll forget about the pain and enjoy the future,” said Mattson. “We really have a whole lot of potential here.”
The remodel and expansion added 10,000 square feet of space that features new offices, and spaces for counseling, dentistry and nursing. The health center’s clinical services such as observation, treatment, dental and pharmacy are now on the same floor.
“We’re so excited to finally have everything up and running this term,” University Health Center Director Tom Ryan said.
Construction delays and budget restraints forced the health center to close dentistry services during fall term, but staff still offered consultation, Mattson said.
“From what I’m aware of, there was an inconvenience, but not a lot of complaints,” Mattson said.
Crews constructed the building in phases to keep the health center open and to meet the needs of students.
“All of the clinical services were impacted,” she said. “We thought they weren’t going to be, but they were incredibly impacted because (staff) needed to deal with all the construction, renovation, dirt and new traffic flows.”
Construction crews couldn’t work around the clock, Mattson said, because overtime is too expensive.
“Construction of a dental clinic is very complex, and there are a lot of water lines and vacuum lines that need to be put in place,” she said.
The lack of dental services during fall term impacted students, but staff told patients that full service would be restored by winter term, Mattson said. As usual, staff sent patients with urgent dental care needs to other area dental clinics.
“We didn’t want to close down,” Mattson said. “The demand and need was high enough that we really needed to stay open.”
Some non-clinical services such as administration, laboratory, physical therapy and medical records were moved to trailers during construction, Mattson said.
At the University Counseling and Testing Center, services were not drastically impacted, said Gwen Jansen, assistant to the director at the center.
“We were pretty consistent with our services throughout the whole building process,” Jansen said. “It wasn’t easy, though.”
During construction, the reception area switched locations, testing services moved across campus and therapy services were offered in trailers, Jansen said. Most services were restored by fall term, and the center now features more office space.
Staff at the health center and counseling center wanted to stay in the same building because their services are related.
“We really want to approach the student as a whole human being through mind and body,” Mattson said.
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