Written by Amrin Rahman
Edited by Leuna Sarah
College campus health centers provide students with an array of health services, ranging from mental health counseling to immunizations and treatment of minor conditions. The services offered by the student health centers vary from institution to institution but they share a general idea of improving student health and wellbeing. Hard-working college students are at a time in their lives where their surrounding factors and internal habits highly affect their personal fulfillment, psychological stability, and physical health. Access to university health centers can allow for students to develop positive health management skills and improve their overall health (ACPA). Additionally, student health centers are typically more affordable than private clinics or hospital visits, which is extremely beneficial for students who are underprivileged and lack health insurance.
Unlike other CUNY campuses, Hunter College does not have an official student clinic or nurse’s office. Instead, Hunter offers various support services for accessibility, counseling and wellness, and emergency support. Their office of accessibility provides and advocates for students with temporary or permanent disabilities (Hunter College). The counseling and wellness services include short-term counseling, crisis interventions, referrals, and health promotion and education (which is offered to both students and faculty). The emergency support varies from food assistance to legal immigration assistance. While Hunter offers a variety of mental health and personal development services, it does not provide its students with an outlet to check in on their physical health.
Having the opportunity to oversee one’s physical health at their university campus could be very beneficial, as “students whose health status is positive and flourishing have greater ability and readiness to learn and engage fully in all meaningful educational experiences inside and outside the classroom […] The learner as a whole person matters in the learning” (Skorton & Altschuler). With the underlying knowledge that they are physically healthy and mentally secure, their moods are boosted, energy levels are increased, and stress exponentially reduced, allowing for better focus and stronger memory. Without an official student health center in place, Hunter students may be scrambling to find affordable healthcare providers or treatment plans. The CUNY Baruch College Student Health Care Center provides a multitude of services from diagnosis to treatments for various illnesses and injuries. In fact, Baruch students who are uninsured or underinsured are able to receive vaccines and receive assistance with health insurance enrollment (Baruch College Health Services). CUNY John Jay, CUNY City College, and CUNY Brooklyn College also have multi-service health clinics with healthcare professionals located on their campuses.
The CUNY Health centers that are currently available, do offer primary care, immunizations, and preventative care at low costs (Healthy CUNY). However, Hunter’s lack of a clinical health center prevents equitable access to health care and can have detrimental effects on the student body. Ten percent of CUNY undergraduates lack any form of health insurance and 15% do not have regular access to a healthcare practitioner or receive frequent medical attention (Healthy CUNY), which further stresses the need for a school-based health center. In addition, 38% of CUNY students do not have health insurance because of high costs, which student health centers help combat with their free and inexpensive services. Lastly, 42% of CUNY students use community health centers as their primary care, emphasizing the need for the expansion of the CUNY health clinics onto the Hunter College campus (Healthy CUNY). Doing so will allow for Hunter students to receive the proper health services that they are not able to access normally.
Currently, Hunter students that would like health care resources from the college are directed to nearby unaffiliated health facilities, such as CityMD Urgent Care or Access NYC. Hunter students who are unable to visit these facilities can also look into NYC Care, which is a low-cost healthcare program sponsored by the NYC Health + Hospitals system for New Yorkers who cannot afford insurance or are ineligible to apply for insurance.
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