Facts: The Student Health Center serves 55,000 patient visits each year and the pharmacy fills 60,000 prescriptions a year. Each student pays $245.62 worth of student health fees, plus a $35 fee for the Health Center’s addition. Cutting back the hours of the Student Health Center is on the table as an option to offset budget cuts.

Opinion: The Student Health Center is here to fill the health needs of the student body. Reducing hours without compensating for them in other areas will decrease the quality of care and the amount of students the Health Center can serve.

The NCSU Student Health Center is “there to provide quality primary health care, comprehensive disease prevention and health promotion services.” The budget cuts, however, have started to take an effect on our Student Health Center and tough choices are in the future. One idea floating around that has worried Student Government is the possibility of cutting hours from the Student Health Center. While this would help the budget, the center’s ability to offset the burden should not hinder their ability to provide care for students.

Many students depend on the Student Health Center because they either cannot get off campus or do not know how to look for their own doctor. The hours are normal enough for a full-time or graduate student to plan around them. Students who have full days or late classes might have to rearrange their schedules to get to the center before 4:30 p.m., but at least it is open into the afternoon. With these hours, it is flexible for students to work appointments into their schedule, but just barely as other students vie for the same appointment time.

Since there are only a certain amount of appointments available a day and there are still unanticipated walk-ins, the Student Health Center is already pressed to fit the needs of all students. The Center’s administrators should not reduce from normal business hours unless they increase the number of appointment slots and staff to stock the various general, women’s and mental health services. If they cannot do that, then they need to reduce our student fee. The Student Health Center cannot expect to take away a service and the expect us to pay the same amount.

The Student Health Center is about to finish construction on its facilities. It would be unfair for students to pay our increased student health fee, part of it going toward the new facilities, then reduce the time the center is open. The goal of the renovations are “…a more comfortable environment, better service, and satisfactory health care assistance,” according to Dr. Jerry Barker, vice chancellor of student affairs and director of Student Health Services. Is this really true when we could be inconvenienced into shorter hours.

If a student is feeling sick, the Student Health Center is there for them and should be there to be proactive. To do that, they must be flexible and understanding with their operation and this is questionable if they are cutting back their hours to a point that the quality of care decreases. They should find alternatives to closing the center early, such as hiring more doctors to make more appointments available and utilizing the additions to fit more students. If the Student Health Center can’t do this, then we should have our fees refunded or reduced.