Avenues for Reform

Dr. David S. Rosenthal '59, director of UHS, admits that working with the support staff is one thing UHS has to learn.

"We are continually training our support staff, but as new people come on, there needs to be additional training," Rosenthal says. "The most important thing is to not erect barriers between students and the medical care because many times you don't know if the situation is serious or not."

Rosenthal says he encourages students to voice their concerns by contacting him over the phone or through e-mail.

"If they don't call, then problems will fester, and I won't be able to take care of them," Rosenthal says. "I want to be made aware."

But students still seem unwilling to contact Rosenthal or Kathleen Dias, UHS patient advocate, to file a complaint.

"I don't think my complaints are valid since they are mostly about long waits," Chee says.

"It's usually not enough of a big deal," says Travis D. Wheatley '99. "My main problems have always been the receptionists who seem to jerk me around. Those seem more like minor annoyances."

Dias refused to release the nature and number of complaints she receives annually, explaining that it was confidential information. But in 1992, Dias was quoted in a Crimson article saying that students had filed less than 10 complaints with her department in the last year.

Dias now claims that she never released such information and declined to comment on the nature of the complaints that she generally receives.

Kevin C. Chien '98, a member of the Student Health Advisory Council (SHAC), said students often may not file a complaint because they want it to remain confidential.

"Perhaps they are concerned about the confidentiality issue, or they feel like their complaint won't be taken seriously," Chien says. "We talk to the student and see if we can identify the person they are concerned with, whether it's a doctor or part of the support staff."

SHAC co-chair, Tara L. Adamovich '97, explains that SHAC, a student-run advocacy group, was formed to voice student concerns about health services.

The seven-person board meets weekly with Dias, Adamovich says, and accepts both complaints and suggestions.

Adamovich estimated that of the seven to 10 responses the group gets each week, about 50 percent are complaints concerning the care they received. Chien said that most students have had problems with the availability of doctors and the ability to get appointments.