Health center faces changes

The Student Health Clinic is facing changes this academic year, after the director resigned and budget cuts may force its closure.

Vice President for Student Services Donna Eddleman said Student Health Clinic Director Marjean Allen announced her resignation in a meeting last Tuesday and sent a resignation letter to Eddleman Thursday.

The Student Health Clinic staff chose not to comment on her resignation, and Allen could not be contacted by e-mail or phone.

Student Health Administrative Assistant Debra Foster said Allen could not be contacted and she had left for California.

“We are still trying to work everything out,” she said.

Eddleman said health care professionals from the community will help out in the clinic for the rest of the year.

“What we were able to do fairly quickly was work out a relationship with Cedar Ridge Family Clinic to help out in the clinic,” she said. “They will most likely continue to work with us until the end of the year when a decision is made about the clinic.”

Although there has been discussion in SUUSA meetings, Eddleman said no decisions have been made about closing the health clinic.

“There have been conversations in the context of budget cuts about possibly closing the clinic,” she said.

Eddleman said if the clinic was cut, the student fee funding for the clinic would be redirected toward Student Involvement & Leadership, while some of the state funding that goes to Student Involvement & Leadership would be cut during the budget process.

SUUSA President Cody Alderson said the SUU President’s Council must decide on where cuts are going to be made for the next fiscal year because colleges across Utah will have to mitigate the impact of a 17-percent cut in state funds.

The President’s Council must cut from student services or another area, such as academics, Alderson said.

He said the President’s Council is weighing options on what sector can be cut that would bring the least amount of impact to the student body.

If the Student Health Clinic is cut, student may still have an opportunity for low-cost health care. The Doctor’s Free Health Clinic in St. George plans to build a branch close to the university by June.

The clinic would offer the same services that the Student Health Clinic does, although prices and co-pays could be varied.

“We are looking at viable options right now and it’s not going to be an easy decision because wherever the cut is made, it will impact the student body,” Alderson said.