Drs. Robin Froman, Theresa Chiang, Francisco Cigarroa and Marilyn Harrington stand in the waiting room of the new Student Health Center.
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The new Student Health Center, located in Room 1.422 in the School of Nursing, is officially open for business in its permanent location. Conceived and built in just three and a half months, the center is a model of collaboration, President Francisco G. Cigarroa, M.D., said at the ribbon-cutting ceremony Feb. 5.

The 1,950-square-foot center will provide basic health care for all Health Science Center students and is open daily from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., except for weekends and HSC holidays. Professionals staffing the center are Lori Hale, a physician’s assistant and 2006 graduate of the School of Allied Health Sciences, and Leia Oberg and Julie Teel, advanced practice family nurse practitioners. Raymond Troxler, M.D., clinical associate professor in the School of Pharmacy, is providing physician oversight, review of medical records and consultation, as needed.

Becky Gutierrez, who has more than 20 years experience managing health care provider offices, is manager of the center. Also working at the center are Thania Zuniga, medical assistant, and Tiffany Shewmaker, medical records clerk.

The center has three exam rooms, two of which are larger than usual to allow room for teaching, said Rudy Gomez, assistant to the dean of the School of Nursing, who oversaw the project. There also are two offices and a spacious waiting room. The center was funded with a $350,000 investment from the School of Nursing.

The idea for a new Student Health Center was suggested by student leaders, who meet periodically with Dr. Cigarroa and Theresa Chiang, Ed.D., vice president for Academic Administration. “I’d like to commend Dr. Chiang, who recommended that the Student Health Center be a joint project between the schools of Nursing and Allied Health Sciences,” Dr. Cigarroa said.

Before making the recommendation, Dr. Chiang met with the deans of the two schools, Robin Froman, R.N, Ph.D., F.A.A.N., from the School of Nursing and Marilyn Harrington, Ph.D., from the School of Allied Health Sciences. “They wholeheartedly agreed to the idea,” Dr. Chiang said.

Dr. Froman noted that the nursing students gave up a large student lounge to make room for the Student Health Center. “I’d like to thank them for their generosity and good humor with the destruction and construction,” she said. She also thanked the faculty for their patience with the project.

“Students and faculty from the two schools will work together to staff the center. This will provide a great opportunity to train our students on how a clinic is actually run,” added Dr. Harrington.

The Student Health Center opened in January and was to have been dedicated right after the Martin Luther King holiday, but the ribbon-cutting was postponed due to the ice storm. About 20 patients a day are receiving health care through the center.

For more information, please call the Student Health Center at 567-WELL or 567-9355.