Saturday hours coming to Health Center?

STUDENT CONGRESS AND HEALTH CENTER ASSOCIATE DIRECTOR PAIR UP — Members of Student Congress are currently working with Cindy Sabo on cost-effective method plans for extending the Health Center’s hours. (Hope College)

Hope College’s Health Center has offered individualized medical care for students for many years.

All students enrolled, full or part-time, are eligible to use the center’s confidential services for their health care. The staff includes medical doctors, a physician assistant and registered nurses. The HopeHealth Benefit provides students with up to $1,000 in health care benefits, when services are accessed through the Hope Health Center. The HopeHealth Benefit is not a major insurance but is an automatic benefit for the students.

The Health Center’s current hours are Monday through Friday, 8:30 a.m. to 12 p.m. and 1 to 4:30 p.m.

While the center offers great resources to assist and care for their students, health care is restricted to certain hours. Students participate in campus responsibilities and activities from assignments, athletics, organizations, work and more during the weekdays and on the weekends. The weekends do not come to a halt for student life, and that also applies to health concerns.

Members of Student Congress has recently investigated the opportunities for health care being offered to students during the weekend from Hope’s Health Center.

Student Congress member, Gina Horsburgh (’20), put together statistic data on other members of the Great Lakes Colleges Association (GLCA) regarding Saturday hours for their health centers. While some colleges are much like Hope with no Saturday hours, there is an on-call nurse available for the students to see.

Horsburgh presented her findings to the Health Center’s associate director, Cindy Sabo. Sabo joined the Health Center team in 1999, coming from a career in public health and urgent care. Sabo responded well to the Student Congress request, reflecting on the information presented to her and developing a cost-effective method plan in an email to administration.

Sabo concluded that the Health Center would need to add an additional three staff members to cover four hours of Saturday morning appointments. Offsetting those four hours during the week would not be reasonable as the Health Center is booked full almost every day.

While Sabo found the student request reasonable, she expressed concerns about the financial aspect of adding Saturday morning hours. She offered a backup plan which would be more cost-effective. The plan would offer transportation during Saturday hours for those that need to go to Urgent Care, whether the student decides to go on their own or directed by the center’s on-call physician service.

Student Congress is now waiting on response and feedback from the administration. The students on the Health Center task are continuing to meet with Sabo to keep other development plans in motion.

Senior representative Kenzie Mader (’18) shared; “Having the health center available to students on the weekends would give students better care and more security that in their health.”

To make an appointment with the health center call 616395-7585 and speak with a health center provider.

For more questions on the progress of the request with the Health Center or to bring another campus issue to their attention, email congress@hope.edu.