The Dudley Coe Health Center has filled one of the two vacant positions created by recent staff departures.
Sonya Justus has been hired this fall by the Dudley Coe Health Center to replace Karen Marlin as a physician's assistant.
According to Hayes, Marlin elected to transfer to a different job in order to accommodate personal needs. She will continue to work on a per diem basis as needed in the Health Center.
According to Director of the Health Center and Nurse Practitioner Sandra Hayes, Marlin "paid great attention to detail and did wonderful laboratory work and testing."
A replacement is still needed to fill the gap left behind by former Medical Assistant Judy McMaster, who retired at the end of last year after having worked in her position at the Health Center for four years.
"I am anxious to have Ms. McMaster's position filled so we can be at full staffing levels," said Dean of Student Affairs Margaret Hazlett. "The current staff is doing a wonderful job filling the gaps but we need a full-time person in that role given the demand for services."
Hazlett, who is currently in charge of stipulating contracts for staff members of the Health Center, said that the department has had a large amount of turnover in the past two years, including the loss of former college physician Jeff Benson in January 2007. In the absence of Benson, who was also the director of the department, Hayes was promoted to interim director and became the permanent director this year.
Also as a result of Benson's departure, school administrators decided to return to the old system of having two part-time doctors collaborating throughout the week. This was the system in place when the Health Center first opened 12 years ago.
According to Hazlett, Jeff Maher and Melanie Rand, two local physicians working in Family Health at Parkview Adventist Medical Center, were brought in for a total 20 hours a week (four hours per weekday) when this system was re-instituted last year. Although Maher worked three days a week last year and Rand worked two, Maher will be working four days a week this year and Rand will be working one, due to the demands of her current schedule at Parkview.
Although physician's assistants normally work under full-time doctors, Justus said that her position entails that she must be licensed under the Board of Medicine to a supervising doctor who simply oversees her contract.
"Every area is a little bit different. Some states have laws where there has to be a doctor on site. Some states have laws where a doctor has to be within 200 miles or a telephone call away," said Justus. "[The medical staff at the Health Center] function in seeing patients of our own accord. If there's something we can't handle, we refer the patient to the physician....It's a collaboration to make sure we're giving the best care possible."
Hazlett stated that the Health Center's main priority this year is to round off the staff. The next priority is to help the department prepare for a move to the Fitness, Health and Wellness Center, which is currently under construction.
According to Hazlett, the final priority of the center is to be undertaken by Counseling Health Clinician Fleur Hopper, who will be leading Peer Health Educators this year.
Peer Health Educators, according to Hayes, are a group of 16 students who have divided themselves up into four groups?alcohol awareness, safe sex, body image, and nutritious eating?that will each perform presentations throughout the year to spread awareness of these topics to Bowdoin students.
In addition to these initiatives, Hayes has stated that the Health Center is constantly looking for new birth control options. Since the Federal Deficit Reduction Act was signed by President Bush in February 2006, colleges across the country have had a much more difficult time providing their students with access to birth control since the spring of 2006.
Bowdoin has felt the sting of the bill and has not been able to offer free birth control since.
"We're always looking for pharmacies that might offer new deals," said Hayes. "There have been changes with American Health Association and reproductive clinics. There are prescriptions still available but the pills are not free of charge."
Bowdoin Student Government (BSG) President Sophia Seifert '09 said that BSG is working with the Health Center to improve its communication with students.
"Dudley Coe by and large does a great job, but there are urban myths that develop and deter people from seeking healthcare," said Seifert.