LC Meridian

Issue date: 3/1/10 Section: Student Life

Director Cindy Kreisberg administers a vaccine to a student.

For the past 18 years, the Student Health Center at Lehman College has been providing accessible and affordable health services to students. But it's taken a hit during the economic downturn, and as a result, many of its services may be cut.

Students petitioned for a Health Center in 1991, and one year later, the Health Center opened its doors. Initially, the services provided were measles vaccinations, physicals for athletes, physicals for those who wished to utilize the Apex, first aid, and health education pamphlets. In the mid-'90's, the Health Center shut down, and didn't reopen until 1997, when Cindy Kreisberg came in as the director. Under her direction, services increased every year because she had a substantial budget: ten dollars of the activity fee were solely going to the Health Center even during the years that it was closed.

But that fund is now depleted, and the Health Center has had to cut services by 23%. Because Lehman is 70% female, the most popular service offered is gynecology; but, the gynecologist's hours have been cut back from 12 hours a week to 8 hours a week, with appointments booking up to 2-3 weeks in advance. "Before, she used to be able to see up to 24 women a week, but now she can only see 16 women a week," said Kate Greenberg, Director of Wellness and Education.

Now, the Health Center faces the difficult task of not only trying to maintain their services, but also to restore and augment lost services. The Health Center administrators have figured out that by simply charging students an extra $5 dollars a semester, the center would not only be able to reintroduce former services and hours, but also cover all gynecology lab costs for every woman, Chlamydia and gonorrhea testing for men (because currently they are only available for women), and hire a weekly nutritionist. As a result, they've launched the MATCH campaign (Maintain Access To Campus Health), a petition that informs students of all of the benefits of the Health Center, and requires 1,200 student signatures in order to be put on a ballot to be considered by the Board of Trustees.

"All we're asking from students is to just get us on the ballot," said Greenberg. Adding the proposal to an agenda that can be reviewed by a Board of Trustees would be the first step in trying to pass the $5 dollar raise. That money would also be enough to cover a quarterly massage therapist, who would come in during finals, as well as bring in a dentist and an optometrist.

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