By the spring semester, Student Health Services will move from its current location in Umrath Hall to a larger space in Forsyth House on the South 40.
The move will mark the first time that Medicine Services, Mental Health Services and Health Promotion Services will be located in the same area.
“We are absolutely thrilled to have the opportunity to move to a new state-of-the-art space that was designed specifically to meet the health needs of our students,” said Alan Glass, M.D., director of Student Health Services.
The 53,495-square-foot Forsyth House, located near the intersection of Big Bend Boulevard and Shepley Drive, opened to students in fall 2004.
Glass said the advantages of the new clinic will include more square footage, a more efficient layout, increased privacy for patients and a procedure room for suturing and minor surgery. It will also include space for a travel medicine clinic.
The 8,463-square-foot clinic will be some 1,600 square feet larger than the space Student Health Services has occupied in Umrath Hall for more than 30 years.
It will include an office for Health Promotion Services, currently located in the Woman’s Building. Health Promotion Services provides students with information on safe sex, fitness and stress relief, among other topics.
Glass said there will be no interruption of health or counseling services during the move.
Medicine Services employs 32 people, Mental Health Services employs 14, and four work in Health Promotion Services.
Student Health Services has seen increased use in recent years, with most students reporting common ailments like colds, sore throat, allergies, urinary tract infections and abdominal pain, as well as back pain, broken bones, strains and sprains.
Depression, anxiety and attention deficit disorder are seen most often in Mental Health Services.