IU Health Center still active despite lower summer enrollment

While most students go home for the summer, others opt to stay in Bloomington. As summer sessions start up and allergy season kicks in, the IU Health Center stays active.\nDr. Hugh Jessop, executive director and chief financial officer at the IU Health Center, said that even though spring semester is over, the health center still gets a lot of student traffic. \n“During the summer we’re at 35 percent of the norm,” Jessop said. “If we’re seeing 350 patients during the semester, we’re seeing 120 to 125 during the summer.” \nThe counseling service at the IU Health Center sees about half of what it sees during the semester. Jessop said that’s because it doesn’t have the same capacity as the medical clinic. \nDuring the summer, the IU Health Center reduces its staff by at least 60 people. \n“We don’t give (the staff) vacations during semesters except for breaks,” Jessop said. \nJessop explained that the staff members need to take their vacations between graduation and the beginning of fall semester. Jessop said that a full staff is essential to operating the IU Health Center. \n“We can’t operate the place without everybody here,” Jessop said. “It’s nice that it works out that way.” \nJayne Dillman, a nurse’s assistant at the IU Health Center, said working in the summer is more relaxed than in the fall and spring semesters. \n“We get our cleaning jobs done,” Dillman said. “It’s not as crazy.” \nJessop added that when students register for summer classes, they are charged a health fee. The health fee is only assessed if the student is registered for more than six credits. Any student who is registered for fewer than six credits will not have to pay the initial fee, but will have to pay more for each individual health service he or she uses. \n“There are problems for others who don’t realize the cost is less when the fee is assessed,” Jessop said. \nThe IU Health Center’s Health and Wellness department provides a massaging service to students during both fall and spring semesters, as well as during the summer. \n“It’s all part of our stress program,” Jessop said. “We recognize that not every student gets ill, so if there’s a service we can provide for less money, let’s do it.” \nJessop said that the Health and Wellness Education program has been giving massages for the last 12 years, but the “cat just recently was let out of the bag.” \nAshley Breedlove, an employee at the Health and Wellness Education program at the Health Center, explained that they serve not only Health Center patients and students, but also members of the community. \nIn the past, Health and Wellness Education employees have gone to classes and dorms to talk about safe sex, fitness and nutrition and tobacco-related issues. \n“I would definitely recommend coming in for fitness and nutrition guidance,” Breedlove said. \nIndiana has one of the highest percentages of obese people in the nation, she said.\nJessop said the IU Health Center uses a team-based approach toward its patients because of the various services it offers. \n“The critical piece is that everything here is all integrated,” Jessop said.