Chapman students face challenges seeking appointments at the health center

Photo by Emma Johnson, Staff Photographer

Chapman students are calling for increased access to the health center as it undergoes a transition in leadership, highlighting a growing need for more availability.

Students said there was a lack of operational hours that aligned with course schedules and found making appointments difficult. While Jerry Price, dean of students and vice president for student affairs, said the purpose of the center is convenience rather than necessity. 

Price emphasized that the health center was just one resource for students to access but there were other options for students to seek medical care. 

“In Orange County, there is an urgent care within five minutes in each direction,” said Price. “Our health services are really there to provide convenient health care for students, it's not out of necessity.”  

The Chapman Health Center offers a range of services, including care for minor injuries, strep throat and sexually transmitted disease testing. But students with more serious issues are referred to urgent care. 

In discussing the limitations of available services during weekends, Price emphasized the need for students to seek urgent care for more serious issues. 

“If somebody really needed something urgently on the weekend, it's probably something that we wouldn't be able to treat anyway, and they should go to urgent care,” he said. 

Molly Stone, a senior graphic design major, said there is a financial burden for out-of-state students seeking external resources. 

“I end up having to pay a lot out of pocket to get treatment in another place,” said Stone. 

Brooke Schlegel, a senior screenwriting major shared a similar view and pointed out transportation issues that exist. 

“You have to go to urgent care, which I can imagine being a massive problem for someone who does not have healthcare outside of Chapman,” said Schlegel. “Or, like, transportation.”

Schlegel also advocated for weekend appointments to allow for more flexibility for students. 

“Actually getting in to be seen at the health center has proved to be a little bit problematic throughout my four years because of limitations with appointments,” she said. “The center isn’t open on the weekends, which is really detrimental for a lot of students.” 

Price explained the rationale for the operational hours, noting that students were not taking advantage of the extended hours offered.

“One time we did an experiment with evening hours. We were open one semester, one night a week until like eight or nine o'clock, almost nobody came in,” said Price.

Schlegel indicated that while the care she received at the health center has been valuable, there appears to be difficulty accommodating the number of students.

“The actual care that I received from the health center is normally pretty beneficial,” she said. “I went in a couple of weeks ago, and my provider was also acting as the receptionist that day.” 

Schlegel continued, “If there is any department in Chapman to be understaffed, like that, (it) does not feel like the department that should be.” 

Price explained that while the health center is equipped to host multiple practitioners, it is currently experiencing a shortage of staff.

“We have enough exam rooms so that each clinician could be seeing patients, so we could be seeing if needed, three at a time,” he said. “Now we're at two clinicians, so that is going to scale back a little.”

The shortage of clinicians has heightened challenges with connecting over the phone, according to Price. 

“I had been sick starting Friday and I called them first thing Monday morning. They told me that they didn't have any appointments that day and that I had to come in the next day,” Schlegel said.“It's frustrating, especially when I was really, really, really sick, and I just felt horrible. Being sick waits for nobody.”

Price stated the center has experienced challenges to accommodate students due to ‘no shows.’ 

“It is (services) all prepaid because you pay tuition and fees, if they don't need to be seen anymore, they just don't show,” said Price. “Last year, 20 percent of our appointments were no shows or last-minute cancellation. So that's another 800 students we could have seen.” 

Price shared there is a newly implemented online service in the Chapman student portal aimed to mitigate these challenges. 

Through the Student Medical Portal students are able to view and cancel appointments, access medical records, and send secure messages.

There is additional functionality that needs to be developed before students can schedule appointments online, according to Price. 

The healthcare providers are striving to accommodate students despite the challenges they face.

“The people over there work exceptionally hard, even the temporary people who really have no long term affiliation with the university,” said Price. “They're really dedicated to students, so we're grateful that we have people like that while we're getting the other positions filled.”