In sharp contrast to previous administrator statements that a student medical center is not, and will never be, an option for North Campus, a health care facility has been proposed for the Lee Road complex, which will someday link Ellicott to the academic spine.
The health center would likely provide non-emergency medical care to students and operate in a manner similar to South Campus' Center for Student Health, commonly referred to as Michael Hall. Further details and a final decision on the project will not be available until Steiglitz Snyder Architecture, the firm designing the Lee Road complex, releases its last planning report at the end of the semester.
"The student health center seems like a natural part of the plan [because] the idea of the Lee Road project is to provide many student services and retail outlets in one general area of the campus to better serve the needs of students," stated Clifford Wilson, associate vice president for Student Affairs, in an e-mail.
With the addition of on-campus apartments, the need for a North Campus student health center has become increasingly apparent.
"I'd be a lot happier because I don't want to ride on the shuttle bus when I'm sick. Plus, it would make more sense to have it on North because more people live on North," said freshman Jaime Stachowiak.
Frank Carnevale, director of the Center for Student Health, agreed.
"The bulk of the student population is on the North Campus. ... It makes sense to increase the student services on the North Campus, including the student health center," said Carnevale.
An issue still under debate is whether to maintain a satellite facility on South Campus for student residents or to relocate all student medical services into the North Campus development.
"It would be our preference to keep something down [on South Campus]. Simply because we don't want to do to the South Campus what has been done to the North Campus, which is provide no service on that campus," said Susan Snyder, associate director of the Center for Student Health. "So we would prefer to have a smaller satellite facility [on South Campus] and then a central facility out on North Campus."
Both Snyder and Carnevale seemed enthusiastic about the proposed move, explaining that a North Campus counterpart to Michael Hall has been debated several times in the past, but never came to fruition.
The two administrators expressed a desire to be involved in the design for the new medical facility. Michael Hall, which was originally a residence hall, is marked by long, narrow corridors and small dorm-style rooms which are less than conducive to efficient health care delivery.
Carnevale and Snyder hope to consolidate examination rooms and medical offices in the Lee Road construction, making it more like a traditional health service facility.
"There will certainly be a great deal of discussion with various campus groups before a final decision is made," stated Wilson.
According to Dennis Black, vice president for Student Affairs, the university did not originally intend to install large-scale student service offerings on the North Campus - not even a Student Union - when the idea of an Amherst campus was conceived in the 1970s.
"The plan was for us to be a two-campus school with classes, services, etc. on both," Black stated in an e-mail.
Bringing health services to North Campus was a major component of the current Student Association administration's election platform - a campaign pledge that, until recently, appeared infeasible. SA Vice President Joshua Korman told The Spectrum in early October that while UB administrators expressed an interest in the move, no concrete plans had been formulated to make the idea a reality.
"The administration has shown no commitment to serving students in that way," Korman said in the Oct. 10 issue of The Spectrum.
UB Provost Elizabeth Capaldi also indicated that a North Campus medical facility was unlikely in the near future.
"The lack of more service on North is not a lack of interest, but a lack of financing to support the two offices, and of proximity for the main office to other services on South," Capaldi stated in an e-mail to The Spectrum last month.
SA was supportive of the university's apparent reversal on the issue.
"I think it's awesome. I think it's a much-needed service that's needed on North Campus. I hope they don't abandon having student health services on South Campus, [but] I think they're taking the right steps," said SA President Christian Oliver.
