Plans mapped out for new health center

The plans for USC’s new health center are nearing the final stages, with space allotted for more exam rooms, offices and a separate clinic for faculty and staff.

Plans for a new health center have been underway for the last 10 years. The growth in the size of the university and in the number of students visiting the health center called for a larger facility to cope with growing number of patients, Dr. Lawrence Neinstein, director of the University Park Health Center, said.

The new health center will offer enough examination rooms and waiting areas to give students more privacy. There will also be more counseling offices.

“Our [current] facility is too small for the volume, which has increased from 35,000 individual visits in 1995 to over 90,000 this past year,” Neinstein wrote in an e-mail.

Offices that had to be moved out of the current building will be included in the new center.

Neinstein said that the new health center will bring together services that had been previously spread across campus, such as counseling, insurance and potentially physical therapy. There will likely be space for Health Promotion and Prevention Services in the center, as well, Neinstein said.

“It will place most of our services in one location,” Neinstein said. “The flow should be much better, [which will] decrease waiting time.”

Technologies in the new center will also be more advanced. Students will be able to check in, make appointments electronically, and obtain health records and labs electronically.

The new center, which will be a minimum of three stories above ground, will stand in front of Parking Structure B on the empty lot near the back of the Lyon Center.

There are three stages in the construction of new buildings on campus. Stage One consists of the initial drawings and planning of locations and space.

According to Neinstein, this stage was completed three years ago, but the project was put on hold due to the economy and the halt of construction on campus.

The new center is currently in between Stage One and Stage Two, which is the final plan and obtaining permits. Stage three is construction of the building.

“We know that President Nikias is very supportive of the new facility and so we are hopeful this will move forward in the near future,” Neinstein said.

Construction will begin nine to 12 months after Stage Two is completed.

“We would hope this will provide a facility that is much needed for students on a university that has become a residential university with so many students living on or right off campus,” Neinstein said.