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For the student body's health

Haley Jackson felt the rashy spot on her chin during class and decided it needed a remedy, now. So two hours after calling the health center on the University of Florida campus, the 21-year-old junior was in the infirmary, talking to an urgent care doctor and being prescribed an antifungal ointment.

"It's kind of embarrassing," said Jackson, who hails from Brandon.

Even if her diagnosis had been more grim, Jackson wouldn't have to go anywhere else.

With 230 staffers and a $15-million budget, UF's Student Health Care Center is a minihospital, offering a range of services that will shock anyone who still thinks college clinics are for picking up birth control pills and extinguishing gonorrhea.

If Jackson's ringworm spreads, she can see a dermatologist. If the ordeal stresses her out, she can unwind with massage therapy. If she's still too frazzled to study, mental health counselors offer 12 sessions per student per year.

All of it between classes.

And all either free or at prices far below what can be found off campus.

Student health centers are providing care that students 30 years ago could only dream about - everything from pharmacies and substance abuse counseling to cut rates for X-rays. Campus clinics still focus on outpatient care, but they have moved far beyond the basics: At the University of California-Berkeley, there's a breastfeeding support program; at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, a top-notch sports medicine clinic.

At UF, students drained by excess studying and partying can sign up for classes in Qigong, a Chinese energy exercise.

"I wish I could come here," said Maggie Tucker, who coordinates UF's clinic programs.

Administrators and health experts say many factors are driving the trend: Today's students are more diverse, more demanding, more health-conscious - and more likely to shop around. Universities are being nudged into better care by the same competitive forces behind gleaming gyms and Starbucks in student unions.

Toss in one more fact - that more than 40 percent of students are uninsured or underinsured - and it's no wonder campus clinics have evolved.

Students are "the elite of our population," said Brian Mockler, associate director of Student Health Services at the University of South Florida, which is planning a $15-million building expansion. "If we're going to spend millions of dollars on their education, we might as well keep them healthy."

At USF, students pay a health fee of $6.26 per credit hour, which comes to about $94 for a full class load and entitles them to service at the health center. At UF, the price is $7.69 per credit hour, or about $115 per semester.

Many universities also offer insurance plans to help with out-of-pocket expenses. Colleges struggle with soaring health care costs - the cost of USF's basic insurance plan will rise this fall, from $749 to $947 per year - but student insurance still tends to be cheaper than comparable plans off campus.

"We're covering 250,000 people. It's either cheaper or there's better benefits," said Scott Champagne, a senior vice president at the Boston-based Chickering Group, the nation's leading provider of student health insurance.

Even without insurance, students find bargains at campus clinics.

When Tucker began working as a UF nurse 30 years ago, the health center was "a dark, dank state institution" with a handful of doctors and a wait that could last hours, she said. Now it's housed in a renovated, red-brick building with colored tile, refinished wood paneling and a soda fountain swirling with free Gatorade in the lobby.

Inside, eight doctors, five psychiatrists, four pharmacists, 25 nurses and 25 mental health counselors serve 500 students every day.

The wait? It barely registers.

Every student at UF is assigned a medical team that functions like a family doctor's office, scheduling appointments and tracking records, Tucker said. Appointments are guaranteed within 24 hours of a call and usually on the same day.

Jackson, the ringworm victim, called about 9 a.m. and was told to come in at 11 a.m.

"Every place else you have to wait a day or two," she said.

She was in and out in 30 minutes.

College administrators say they don't want students wasting time navigating the thorny world of health care options or driving to doctors off-campus because, theoretically, that means less time studying. They don't want students drowning in bills, either.

To that end, low cost, convenience and a diversity of services are "very tied to the academic mission," said Steve Lustig, executive director of the UC-Berkeley health center.

There have been bumps on the road to better care: In states such as California, lean budgets for higher education have led to deep cuts at some campus clinics. In Florida several years ago, state officials imposed a tuition-related cap on fees. The cap has made it tougher for universities to raise health fees, the primary source of money for student health centers.

Despite those developments, clinic directors say the drive to improve services is accelerating. Anecdotal evidence suggests a steady pace of expansions, with many colleges adding more sophisticated labs, physical therapy centers, even pharmacies. In the next few years, USF plans to double the size of its center, to 24,000 square feet, so it can add treatment rooms for stitching cuts and setting broken bones. Dental and optical services are being considered, too.

Big schools aren't the only ones upgrading: The 4,700-student University of Tampa campus now offers mental health counseling and has a medical professional on call around the clock.

To some extent, campus clinics have become more sophisticated to meet the needs of a more diverse student body. With growing numbers of students in their 40s, 50s and 60s, "we're doing a lot more EKGs than we did before," said Mockler, at USF.

At the same time, younger students are upping demand for mental health services.

An American College Health Association survey in 1998 found nearly half of 185 clinics that responded offered mental health counseling - a service nearly unheard of 30 years ago.

One theory: more pressure, less stigma.

Mental illness is being diagnosed more often and at younger ages, and more students than ever are seeking help. At UF, about 4,500 students came to the health center for counseling each year - nearly 10 percent of the student body.

At least the cost won't put them on edge.

The sessions are free.

Ron Matus can be reached at 727 893-8873 or matus@sptimes.com.