After serving as interim director of the health center since July 2007?following the sudden departure of College Physician Jeff Benson?the College decided last week to make Sandra Hayes the permanent director of the health center. Hayes has worked at the health center in various capacities since 2000.
Although Hayes was hired on an interim basis last July, according to Senior Associate Dean of Students Margaret Hazlett, "it was understood that if interested we would move her into a permanent position."
The interim period gave both Hayes and the College time to evaluate her fit in the position.
According to Dean of Student Affairs Tim Foster, an internal review of health services confirmed that Hayes was the right person for the job. Hazlett said the review consisted of collecting feedback from staff in the health center, residential life, counseling, and the dean's office, as well as from the Bowdoin Student Government (BSG) and the Bowdoin Women's Association (BWA).
"After an internal evaluation and review with health center staff, counseling staff, our contracted physicians, deans and res. life staff, students, etc., it was clear that Sandra was doing a superb job and was the right person to fill the role on a permanent basis," Foster wrote in an e-mail to the Orient. "We then decided to do an internal posting."
President of BSG Dustin Brooks '08, one of the students involved with the internal review, said that the process "cast a wide net and got a lot of student opinion."
"I think it deeply informed the decision-making process," Brooks said.
Hayes's transition from interim to permanent director of health services does not signal any long-term changes in the health center's operation. In her role as permanent director, Hayes will continue provide health services to students and administrative leadership for the center. According to Foster, the College intends to keep its contractual relationship with physicians Jeffrey Maher and Melanie Rand, both of whom practice in Family Health at Parkview Adventist Medical Center.
Although there are no significant changes on the horizon for the health center, Hayes has a number of projects that she is interested in developing to improve the operation of the health center and student wellness.
According to Hayes, the health center is going to reexamine "how we do appointments" and the feasibility of offering a walk-in clinic for a period of time each week. In addition, Hayes said that she hopes to reinstate the student health advisory as a means of increasing student input regarding the health center's operation.
Hayes also discussed her desire to educate students about wellness issues that may affect students after Bowdoin, in particular health care.
"My other big goal is to teach students how to navigate the health care system here at Bowdoin and outside. I think that it is really important for people," Hayes said.
Brooks has already seen evidence of Hayes's willingness to work with students to improve the operations of the health center, as well as her commitment to health education and awareness.
"She is really accessible in a way that we did not have before," Brooks said. "Sandra has already approached us [BSG] about forming a student advisory committee [for the health center]."
Nonetheless, Brooks maintained that there are still a number of issues regarding the operations of the health center, specifically the lack of confidentiality due to the set up of the building.
"The biggest concern I brought up about the health center was a privacy and confidentiality issue, he said. "Many students express concerns that the layout of the registration and waiting areas cause a great deal of private information to be accidentally revealed in public," he wrote in an e-mail.
The College does not intend to find a replacement for Caitlin Gutheil, student health program administrator and special assistant to the dean of student affairs Caitlin Gutheil, who left the College on March 6 for a position at Health Dialog.
Foster said that "the position will be reconfigured." Gutheil's responsibilities will be divided between Senior Associate Dean of Student Affairs Margaret Hazlett and Hayes. Hazlett will assume responsibility for health and counseling, while Hayes will oversee student insurance.
Hazlett said that most of the work associated with student health insurance has been completed with the transition to a new plan three years ago.
"The work with health insurance is pretty much up and running so the need for strong oversight is no longer as necessary," Hazlett said.
The decision to split Gutheil's position was made after her departure from Bowdoin.
"Caitlin's decision to leave was unexpected," Hazlett said. "If she had stayed, her position would not have changed in the near term."