When the Chronicle published its Oct. 18 article about the new student health service on York Hill, it had a choice of two headlines: “Student Health expands its services to York Hill,” or “Hours Limited at Rocky Top health center.” Unfortunately, rather than showing appreciation for the improved services, the reporter chose to emphasize her view that opening a satellite service with limited hours is somehow a disservice to students.

Nothing could be further from the truth. Much larger campuses such as UConn, Yale, and several other universities I could list have only one site for the entire campus. In addition, they charge students for each visit and impose hefty fees for “no-shows.”

Quinnipiac has chosen to provide enhanced services by having a second site located on the new campus just steps from the York Hill dorms. The limited hours are a necessity of prudent management of finite resources as well as the presence of a limited number of students on site. The negative attitude of the reporter is regrettable. The University has gone to great lengths to improve its health services to students, something which the author of this article seems to be unable to appreciate.

Phil Brewer, MD FACEP

University Medical Director

Student Health Services