Although senior Dawn Carlson-Zajdel has health insurance through her husband’s employer, she often uses Sacramento State’s Student Health Center for her medical needs.

“All the staff has been wonderful,” said Carlson-Zajdel, a communication studies major.- “At the check-in counter and when taking my vitals. – The nurses are very nice and professional and the doctors have been great.”

The Health Center, located near the J Street entrance to campus, offers a variety of services to students, many at no charge.-

In April, students voted to increase the mandatory health service fee from $38 a semester to $65 for the fall semester. This fee, which will continue to increase by $2 each semester until 2010, provides funding to the Health Center and the Student Health Connection in the University Union.

Along with the increase comes the elimination of a $20 augmented health plan that students could opt to purchase. Now, any student can walk in and receive medical services.

“By increasing the mandatory health fee we were able to eliminate the $20 optional augmented service fee so that all students would be eligible to receive the same level of care,” said Joyce Harris, director of the Health Center.-Basic services, optometry exams, elective physicals and three therapeutic massages per semester are just a few of the services provided at no additional cost, she said.

And for Carlson-Zajdel, even those services that do require a fee are worth it.

“I’ve used the lab for full-panel blood work,” she said. “The price for blood work is very fair and I don’t mind paying because of the convenience. And, I don’t have a co-pay each time.”

While major illnesses, injuries and hospitalization are beyond the services offered by the Health Center, students are encouraged to utilize the services that their fees help fund.

“We are very grateful for the student support that was given to the referendum last spring,” Harris said. “We have always believed the health services on campus were important to students and the successful passing of the referendum confirms that.”

And with the number of people living without health care on the rise, college-age individuals are a substantial part of that group.

The National Coalition on Health Care, a non-profit, non-partisan organization located in the nation’s capital, is an alliance that works to improve health care in America.-Over 45 million Americans, or 15.6 percent of the population were without health coverage in 2003, according to a 2004 report released by the coalition. –

College-age young adults, between 18 to 24 years old, were the least likely of any age group to be living without health insurance in 2003. Almost 31 percent of this group did not have any form of health insurance.–

Being uninsured can also mean hospitalization for avoidable conditions that could have been prevented with a visit to the doctor early on, according to the report.

“The fee increase has allowed us to enhance the medical service to all Sac State students,” Harris said. “Our mission is to provide high quality, cost effective, easily accessible health care in a competent and compassionate manner.”

During the 2004-05 academic year, 33,048 students visited the Health Center.-

“It is not uncommon for us to see over 200 patients in a given day,” Harris said. Also available to students is psychological counseling services, located on the second floor of the student health building. Though it is a separate service, not covered by the Health Center fee, it is available to students.

“We mostly provide short term, individual therapeutic counseling to enrolled Sac State students,” said Sandra Nevis, interim director. “This is our most utilized service.-Students are first seen through our drop-in clinic and then referred to ongoing therapy, psychiatric services, learning disability assessment, group therapy or off campus.”

With nine licensed professional staff members and five supervised trainees, psychological counseling services served 400 to 450 Sac State students last semester, Nevis said.-

The Health Center will soon be extending its hours of operation to accommodate evening students, Harris said.-

“Beginning the first week of October, the center will be open Wednesday and Thursday evenings until 6:30 p.m.-Students may be seen on a walk-in basis.” Pharmacy and X-ray services will not be available in the evening but may be available in the future, she said.-

For Carlson-Zajdel, she’ll continue to visit the Health Center as needed, no matter the hours.-

“I like how I can show up without an appointment before classes and trust the medical doctors,” she said.”What I like is that they seem to care, they don’t rush me or ‘blow off’ my health concerns.”

For more information on the Health Center or Psychological Counseling Services, call (916) 278-6461.

Lora Simmons can be reached at [email protected].