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Utilization of services at Cal State Dominguez Hills Student Health Center plummeted after the coronavirus pandemic began. That’s not surprising. Students did not set foot on campus for months at a time.
“During the years of COVID-19, we saw a significant drop in student numbers… from 1,200 (to) 1,100,” said Susan Framing Yates, director of CSUDH’s Student Health Center. In September 2019, before the pandemic, the center had a high of 1,241 students.
To turn things around, last year the center’s staff set a goal of increasing the number of students served by 7 percent. By the end of the school year, they had more than doubled that goal. So far this semester, less than halfway through the school year, the center has served 1,402 students.
“We’ve done a lot of outreach,” she said, with students coming forward for a variety of medical services.
So, as California State University faces budget cuts, the campus is relying on a peer-advisor model to provide essential health services to students. So far this academic year, CSUDH has hired 12 “peer ambassadors” in an effort to help students access affordable health care services offered on campus.
This strategy has worked on other campuses, helping to raise awareness of services many students don’t know exist, such as medical abortion.
What have the ambassadors done so far?
Almost two months into the school year, CSUDH peer ambassadors conduct five table events along busy school hallways to provide students with information on self-care, menstrual health, and other well-being services. I did. Two more table events scheduled this month will spread information about mindfulness and sexual health.
Susan Framing Yates is the director of the Student Health Center at CSU Dominguez Hills.
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Adolfo Guzman Lopez
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LAist
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“I think (students) have really gotten back to work,” Framing-Yates said.
Some of the most in-demand services include an on-campus pharmacy, X-ray services, and mental health counseling. Also new this year is gender-affirming hormone therapy to help students transition.
Students pay a $285 medical service fee for the academic year. Health center visits are free and prescriptions are discounted.
“This is essentially the cheapest medical care you can get in your life,” Framing-Yates said.
But to hear it, students have to contact the Student Health Center and its staff, and that doesn’t happen as often because students often see outside doctors, clinics, and hospitals. No.
“The peer champion model can be very effective, and I think it’s important that student health plays a role,” said Dylan Roby, a professor of health, society, and behavior at the University of California, Irvine. Ta.
The challenge, Roby said, is that health care is provided to college students in a variety of locations, from residence halls to urgent care to hospitals, and the Student Health Center is on campus, making it a good place to follow up with students. It is said that there is a possibility that it will become.
What about other CSU campuses?
Improving access to students also leads to improved student services.
A 2014 audit found that the Student Health Center met many of its goals. It also revealed weaknesses in the lack of oversight by the CSU Prime Minister’s Office, and even a lack of a definition of oversight. In response, the Provost’s Office created a biennial review process for the Student Health Center.
This is essentially the cheapest medical care you can receive in your life.
— Susan Framing Yates, Director, CSU Dominguez Hills Student Health Center
However, the audit was not designed to measure whether the student health center was adequately addressing students’ health needs.
“We have not produced a system-wide benchmark report for some time,” Flaming Yeats said in an email.
She said a report is in the works and should be ready in the coming months to provide information on how well the Student Health Center is serving students.
