ae eine ee eee ene

The Cadre

December 2, 1997

Health concerns on campus

Problems relating to staff and funding at UPEI health centre

By Suzanne Williams

Rumours have been cir- culating around campus hy- pothesizing that the full-time nurse in the health centre has been sent home. The original speculation held that she was laid off because of problems with the school’s budget.

This has increased the students’ fear surrounding the possibility of the health cen- tre’s absence next year.

The nurse has been sent home, but due to personal health reasons. Her physician has informed her that she may

return to work at the centre as early as January. Another nurse has been hired on a tem- porary basis to fill in until that time.

Yet there are still some problems with the health cen- tre in terms of funding, and the matter is being examined thor- oughly.

Sheila Dresen, the Dean of Nursing, believes that the centre should provide year- round service to students and faculty, as well as for touring

roups who use the campus or programs during the sum- mers.

Thoughts on possible alternative situations have ranged from the current doc- tor, Bobby Lund, setting up

ractice so that he could hire

is own nurse and reception- ist, to having the PEI allocate an additional billing number for recruiting a new doctor through another province.

An advertisement was sent out in the Medical Society newsletter on Wednesday, No- vember 26, to entice Island physicians to partner with the university. This is an open op- portunity foradoctor’s ideaon how service should be pro-

vided. Proposals have been requested for next year, and the deadline is Monday, Janu- ary 5, 1998.

“The university is not out to close the health centre to students,” said President Elizabeth Epperly, “ but we are looking into alternatives to how it is currently funded.”

There is also talk of hir- ing a doctor who had patients in the surrounding community and using the health centre for Holland College students as wellas university students. This would save the university money.

The health centre is a very important service within the university, since there are so many out-of-province and international students. Many professors use the health cen- tre more often than their fam- ily physician. The doctors in town are already overbooked, and if the health centre were to shut down, many students and faculty would be forced to turn elsewhere.

John Crossley, Vice President of Academic Su port, commented, “the only other alternative is to have to strip down the health centre.”

_ eee ee SO SERS hn + 6 OAM OOD Oe

CHANGING THE WORLD...ONE HEART AT A TIME

L’arche Cape Breton is a community for mentally challenged people and those who choose to share life with them. Since we began in 1983, we have welcomed more than 100 live-in

“~~ oo {

volunteers. Our community life is challenging, interesting, and lots of fun.

Many volunteer have come from Cape Breton. We have welcomed volunteers from the UK, France, Australia, Germany, Granada, India, and all over Canada. The experiences in L’Arche had not only changed the way we see people with disabilities. It has changed the way we see the

world.

We provide room and board plus a monthly stipend. We will consider covering your student load payments as well. There are event programs available for people interested in volunteering

overseas, as there are over 100 L’Arche communities throughout t the world.

Not sure what you are doing? Why not consider volunteering with L’Arche? Please contact us

for an information package.

SES LL ES EE ESSE SOM eh ee BR SSSESL A Ss OBE ROMO. 6.4.4 0.8

ALT BE TE ES aE PP TNE I AEE EI I LAL RE RL RIES BEI PME IEEE RLS OIRO LAE IY EE LE LTE IY ELIE i EEE