Last week, the LCC Board held a public meeting about the potential closure of the on campus health clinic. Twenty-eight speakers shared with the board why they felt that the clinic should remain open. Outside the meeting, students shared their feelings about the health clinic.
Nursing student Taylor Shen Daily feels that closing the clinic “will negatively impact students who use it and the school board should provide them with some sort of support.” Another nursing student, Peter Leighton, believes that the school should “supply some information on affordable medical care for students.”
According to the board report, 65% of students paid the $45 clinic fee in the Fall of 2022 but only 6% of students, 217, used the clinic. In all of 2022 the clinic treated 1,792 students for visits ranging from immunizations to reproductive and sexual health care to mental health concerns. The board report also stated that almost 40% of the students who visited the clinic in Fall of 2022 were uninsured, which was affirmed by many of the speakers. A lot of the speakers at the meeting on May 3 were international students who do not understand the health care system in the United States. The on-campus clinic is their only access to care.
Paramedicine student Thomas Green believes that LCC could find out what students need access to care and could direct them to alternative options. Multimedia animation student Logan Joseph Habib stated that he had a good experience at the clinic and that “the school should offer a medical resource center for students in order to make medical information more accessible.” Habib also thinks that the school should allocate funds to keep the clinic open.
The board has not decided when they will vote on this issue but they will be discussing it again at the Budget Committee meeting on Wednesday, May 17, at 5:00 p.m.
